Learning to Ponder

Timo's Divergence

Timo, was many things, 

He was a part-time academic,

Who one day realized his time would be better spent

seeing the depths of valleys and caves

as opposed to the depths of textbooks and classroom lectures.

His impulse for adventure led him to the Great Dunes of the sub-Saharan

He had  been traveling for some time now,

So much so that he had forgotten where he initially conceived the original idea

To travel to this destination in the first place.

Regardless, it was there-on that blazing hot day-

That he would experience that god forsaken fork in the path.

Just before the apex of a particular great dune

There lie a fork in the path. 

It diverged to the left, and to the right.

Both pathways seemingly identical,

Both leading to seemingly unknown and slightly unsettling destinations.

Timo stood in front of the divergence, perplexed

Shall I go left? He internally questioned.

Hoping that some external force would give him some divine sign as an answer.

He was no Santiago, but he found himself fascinated 

By his tale and its prophetic Personal Legend.

Shall I go right? He scratched his head in confusion,

Unsure as to which path would bring him the most adventure.

As Timo stood, motionless in that blazing heat,

He thought back to his life before partaking in this Odyssey.

He thought back to his lectures that bored him restless,

And the stories and blogs he had read of similarly aged individuals

Taking a risk in the name of finding out what life really meant to him

Was he wrong romanticize them?

Maybe, for not everyone can and should aspire 

To be the next reincarnation of Chris McCandles.

Still, if it was a story such as his,

That motivated Timo to chase after something he deemed important,

Then perhaps he was right to do so.

At the same time, one could perhaps scold Timo,

Scold him for his foolishness of being drawn in

By the guise of some crazy half-baked pilgrimage

Undergone by a preppy soft-haired Californian

To prove that he was unlike the others around him.

Timo still stood motionless,

Unsure of which path would now bring him the most pleasure

For as adventurous as his posts and blogs would suggest him to be,

He was a rabbit chasing for a carrot just like all the rest.

What angered him is that deep down he knew this.

Timo was smart, almost too smart for his own good.

He was so smart, that in this moment of an internal stalemate,

He began to realize the insignificance of his decision.

He looked out across the Great Dune

Looked left

And looked right.

He realized that it didn't matter which path he chose,

As it was the existence of this very choice

That was the adventure he was chasing.

For as smart of an academic he was,

For as kind of a friend he was,

For as helpful and as noble as a young man he was up until that point,

He was tired of the routine.

He was tired of not having a say in his own destiny,

So he decided to do what he could,

To place control of it back in his hands.

Timo dusted off his sand covered trousers,

Secured his frames on the crest of his nose,

And took a deep breath.

And then, just as quickly as he took that breath,

He put one foot in front of the other, 

And he was off.