Motorcycling is oftentimes a solitary gestalt. One rides off on an adventure for sure. But in the end one goes and returns alone. That aloneness is both wonderful and, in a way, sad.
I never used to see it as sad in the least. It was more a liberating sense of freedom.
Tonight I was re-reading the end of Jimmy Buffett's "A Salty Piece of Land." I sat alone listening to some old John Mclaughlin jazz.
I was struck with Cleopatra Highbourne's dying advice to Tully Mars, her de facto adopted son. This fascinating woman had sailed the world, she had seen everything there was to see; and she had done it always alone. She did not regret her choice. She was determined, however, to instruct Tully not to follow in her lonely footsteps.
"We are all survivors...[she said], But the trouble with being a survivor is that you find youself dancing alone a lot. It is a tricky seesaw on which the survivor has to sit. On the one side is your ability to be comfortable in a world inhabited only by yourself. And on the other side is your desire to share your time with others....Being a survivor is not a bad thing, but you do run the risk of being the last one at the party when the punch bowl is empty and the confetti has turned to dust--like me."
All these many years I have lived with others, played with others and yet my motorcycle adventures have all been on my own. My travels have so many times been like those of Cleopatra Highbourne. I have found myself dancing alone. And like her, I don't regret it in the least.
Still, I wonder if we travelers are not all a bit like Cleopatra. Our inner selves have so many passions, each so different from everyone else's. How can one even know all this until they've achieved a maturity beyond the early years? They cannot.
Perhaps self discovery takes an entire lifetime. We must ride the seesaw. We must find our own way. Dancing alone is not the worst thing. But dancing with a partner is surely a preferable way to live.
I never used to see it as sad in the least. It was more a liberating sense of freedom.
Tonight I was re-reading the end of Jimmy Buffett's "A Salty Piece of Land." I sat alone listening to some old John Mclaughlin jazz.
I was struck with Cleopatra Highbourne's dying advice to Tully Mars, her de facto adopted son. This fascinating woman had sailed the world, she had seen everything there was to see; and she had done it always alone. She did not regret her choice. She was determined, however, to instruct Tully not to follow in her lonely footsteps.
"We are all survivors...[she said], But the trouble with being a survivor is that you find youself dancing alone a lot. It is a tricky seesaw on which the survivor has to sit. On the one side is your ability to be comfortable in a world inhabited only by yourself. And on the other side is your desire to share your time with others....Being a survivor is not a bad thing, but you do run the risk of being the last one at the party when the punch bowl is empty and the confetti has turned to dust--like me."
All these many years I have lived with others, played with others and yet my motorcycle adventures have all been on my own. My travels have so many times been like those of Cleopatra Highbourne. I have found myself dancing alone. And like her, I don't regret it in the least.
Still, I wonder if we travelers are not all a bit like Cleopatra. Our inner selves have so many passions, each so different from everyone else's. How can one even know all this until they've achieved a maturity beyond the early years? They cannot.
Perhaps self discovery takes an entire lifetime. We must ride the seesaw. We must find our own way. Dancing alone is not the worst thing. But dancing with a partner is surely a preferable way to live.
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