Music to Words: The Roadtrip

Laughter fills the car. There is a mutual willingness, an encouragement of adventure. No fear is present. No possibility of failure is in the air because you can’t fail when you’re simply going. The sun fades over the horizon as you chase its final rays. Slowly, the car begins to grow weary. It’s been a long day of excitement. The street lamps of the highway become illuminated. They blow by at an extraordinary speed; orange and glowing. Their streaks pass over sleeping eyes. It is that moment in the trip when there are more people asleep than awake. But the loneliness of the road, the silence; it’s comforting. It’s the only time in life when this loneliness is ever truly comforting. It absorbs you, but gracefully now – not like the loneliness of heartbreak or death, but it’s the loneliness that begins an ascension to happiness. What lies ahead is a mystery, but you know that you are not in it alone. In this moment, you may be the only conscious being. But soon enough, this car full of comrades will come alive. You’re destination will appear in the distance. Your purpose will be fulfilled. The sun will rise behind you, beginning its chase as it pushes you toward the coast. Roads will open, and forks will be taken, and the place you end up won’t be what you planned, but it will be somewhere. And it will be special. And when you get there, you’ll think about the miles you covered, all the lanes you changed, and the exits you choose, all the times something could have happened to prevent you from arriving here, and you won’t care about any of them. You’ll just care that you arrived.

Dedicated to Ari Weitzman