The name and purpose of my new blog.
Firstly, I would like to explain the name I chose for my new blog! Since a lot of change is coming my way with selling my childhood home, my sister getting married, graduating college and moving to Germany, I decided to base this blog around my new experiences and gradual understanding of myself and the world around me. I may at times, refer to past experiences and relate them to the new which will all be a part of connecting the dots and understanding what these experiences have meant in my life. The quote "I tramp a perpetual journey," was taken from a segment of Walt Whitman's poem, "Song of Myself" which is included in his work, Leaves of Grass. Leaves of Grass is a vast collection of poems which Whitman wrote about his philosophy of life and humanity. He spent many years adding to and revising the collection, which were heavily influenced by Ralph Waldo Emerson's writings. (As am I.) I wanted to use an allusion to the free verse poem, "Song of Myself" in my blog, because I imagine that my writing may appear in a style similar to his poems. When inspired my things around me, I tend to make lists in a notebook that eventually turn into either poems, short stories, or free style narratives. In his poem, Whitman does not refer to himself, which is why I think this particular quote is so interesting, because it is one many can relate to. "Tramp," which is used as a verb, is sometimes referred to a vagrant, but can also mean someone who has been cut free from life's everyday routines. I think of this as I pack for Germany. I will be bringing with me only what I can carry. These past few weeks have been full of storage of our house, but also letting go. My journey, or act of traveling will be somewhat perpetual since my life is not planned, nor do I want it to be. Thus, I will be going on a never-ending journey to discover what exactly makes me happy in life...and I will travel it for myself, but I will also share a little bit of my experience with whoever is interested in reading. :)
"I tramp a perpetual journey, (come listen all!)
My signs are a rain-proof coat, good shoes, and a staff cut from the woods,
No friend of mine takes his ease in my chair,
I have no chair, no church, no philosophy,
I lead no man to a dinner-table, library, exchange,
But each man and each woman of you I lead upon a knoll,
My left hand hooking you round the waist,
My right hand pointing to landscapes of continents and the public road.
Not I, not any one else can travel that road for you,
You must travel it for yourself."
- Walt Whitman: Song of Myself, Part 46
"I tramp a perpetual journey, (come listen all!)
My signs are a rain-proof coat, good shoes, and a staff cut from the woods,
No friend of mine takes his ease in my chair,
I have no chair, no church, no philosophy,
I lead no man to a dinner-table, library, exchange,
But each man and each woman of you I lead upon a knoll,
My left hand hooking you round the waist,
My right hand pointing to landscapes of continents and the public road.
Not I, not any one else can travel that road for you,
You must travel it for yourself."
- Walt Whitman: Song of Myself, Part 46
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