Essays

Journeys of Transformation

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The question/prompt for this essay was: When is the journey more important than the destination? We used evidence from our textbook and videos.

Wealthier than Bill Gates

We may be driving to the beach, flying to another country, or just going on through life, but our journeys can help to shape who we are. These travels might just seem to be a way to get from one place to another, however, they can help, to better ourselves and put our world into perspective. The journeys we face during our lives may be more important than the destination we seek. During our travels, we must overcome the obstacles that are set in our way and take in the entire experience. Then we may realize our place in the universe. These ideas have been expressed in many types of literature and media including in the poem Ithaka by C. P. Cavafy, the memoir Wild by Cheryl Strayed and an interview with Misty Copeland, conducted by ABC News. All of these pieces describe the effects a journey may have on the traveler, and how beneficial the journey can be.

Through our many different journeys, we will face obstacles. They could be the traffic on the highway while on a road trip, or the nasty comments of others while we make our way through life. During an interview, the well-known ballerina Misty Copeland explained her hardships during her younger years and how they bettered her for the future. Throughout the interview, Copeland tells of how she was told she too short or too muscular to make it as a ballerina, including that she is also African American. She continues on with the interview explaining that, "'... you're used to seeing a certain type of person as a ballerina. And I don't look like a lot of the girls around me'" (Copeland). Though she was looked down upon because she did not have the stereotypical ballerina body, she still continued to practice and work towards her dream of becoming a professional ballerina and overcoming the obstacle in her way. Near the close of the interview, a narration voiceover confirms that "She continued training over the years and has become one of the most famous dancers in the country" (Copeland). Misty Copeland had doubters as she went through her journey to become a professional in the artistic community. She was able to push past these challenges, however, and move onto her goals. Through this journey that took more than a decade to accomplish, Misty Copeland has grown to be able to overcome the obstacles in front of her and to exceed her doubters and everyone's expectations.

Although overcoming your obstacles within the journey can help you grow, that is only one specific detail of the entire journey. Even if the journey you are currently embarking on is fairly short, there is more than just figuring out how to get over obstacles you can learn from it. There may be more than one lesson that will stay with you into the future if you just let them in. In the poem Ithaka by C. P. Cavafy, the narrator wants for the journey back to Ithaka, or your destination, to be drawn out. The poem starts with, "As you set out for Ithaka hope the voyage is a long one, full of adventure, full of discovery" (Cavafy 130). While you spend a longer amount of time getting to your journey's end, you can experience and learn more than you may have if you rushed through it. As the poem continues, the narrator hopes that you reach your destination,"... wealthy with all you have gained on the way, not expecting Ithaka to make you rich" (Cavafy 130). When you finally attain your goal, the narrator wishes that you have not skimmed past all that you could have learned, but that you soaked in the adventure and gained knowledge along the way. Though we can focus on small parts of our journeys, we can learn even more when we take in the entire ordeal.

In our many excursions, we may also have to travel alone. At first, this can seem troubling and even scary, but at these times we will be able to reflect upon where we may belong. In the memoir Wild by Cheryl Strayed, the author is traveling on a long hike through California. She becomes lost and contemplates what she means to others. At one point on the trail, she encounters a fox. Strayed describes it to be beautiful, but realizes that, "He could be on me in a flash. This was his world. He was as certain as the sky" (Strayed 137). She takes a moment to remember that she is only one part of a bigger world. Strayed then continues to say,"... I could see myself from far above, a spec on the great mass of green and white..." (Strayed 137). Alone on her journey, she finally realized how minuscule she seemed and that she was not the center of the universe. While we journey apart from others we can come to learn how much we truly affect our world, and how great or small that impact may be.

During our many journeys, through the journey of life itself, we can stand to learn a few things while striving to reach our destinations. We can learn to push past the obstacles that may arise in our path. We can also embrace the excitement of the journey itself and become aware of many lessons that can better us for our futures. Finally, we can gain recognition of what we give to our world, no matter how big or small. Our journeys and how we experience them can end up influencing how we live our lives. In the end, it just matters how we choose to take the journey. To fly through it and get to our destination quickly, with little money, or to make it there wealthier than Bill Gates.