On Dr. Jones
Ever since I was three, I wanted to grow up to be Dr. Indiana Jones. I know, it sounds a little stupid now that I’m 22 and graduating– not with a degree in archeology, but in communication– but that’s really all that I’ve got. In some ways, this re-discovery of adventure comes because of 1) the new Jones movie coming out in May and 2) graduation. Because now, more than ever, I feel like I’m standing at the edge of something. Now, more than ever, it feels like the big adventure that I started eight years ago is coming of its own.
People say the world has gotten smaller, and I’d agree, as long as the world we’re talking about is the world of computers and office spaces and 9-5 and Starbuck’s; but, with the trips I’ve made, in the world of temples and artifacts, of elephants and monasteries, villages, ruins and rivers, in places where a nine-headed cobra looms over a city square, where an orange linen is wrapped around a headless statue of Buddha, where a moonlit night is spent wandering around a strange city… the world is as big and exciting a place as ever.
The plan to a life spent in THAT world isn’t easy, because it involves the 9-5 thing as well. Granted. However, as long as I keep my heart set on what I’m living for, the grind won’t get me down. And now, it’s not just wandering; there’s an idea that needs to come of its own, an idea about the world, about people, about culture, about what people believe, why they believe, and what makes one belief different from the next and how belief shapes the environment they live in. I’m not going to settle for an answer someone else will give me, in a book or in a classroom. I want to see it for myself, and that’s what learning is all about after all.
Gimme my hat, slingbag and jacket. Never mind the whip.
