Caves

You may find yourself behind the wheel of a large automobile

You may find yourself in a beautiful house

With a beautiful wife

And you may ask yourself, how did I get here?

Where does that highway go to?

My God, what have I done?

Letting the days go by…

Let’s talk about people in caves. I found these really great Life magazines in a thrift store a few months ago that were published in 1969, so naturally there was a big focus on Vietnam and the political tension going on in the States at the time. One of the issues has a young couple on the cover in their underwear, lying in the crevice of a cave, looking purposefully apathetic. They, along with dozens of other ex-patriots, had moved from the US to live in some caves in Crete. They were there for different reasons; some just wanted to get away, some were dissatisfied with the way America handled its affluence, some were fed up with the war. One woman said, “America has worn me out. I don’t believe in God, and I don’t believe that America is the golden center of the universe. You can get away with not believing in one of these, but not both.” Many of them expressed sorrow and frustration in the fact that they grew up with so many things and were incredibly privileged while many people around the world couldn’t even get clean water or enough to eat. They had to get away.

When asked if they would ever go back, most of them shrugged and said maybe they would. As the article was being written, one family, a mother, father, and two little girls (who had been born there) were getting ready to move back to the States, hesitant at what they would find there, but ready to face it.

I’ve always had this dream of selling everything I have, buying an RV, and travelling the country, getting odd jobs here and there to get by, but just travelling, meeting and learning from people. I’ve also had a dream of living in a tree, away from society and people altogether, in complete solitude. I’ve also had a dream of doing something great, influencing people in some good way, being “the change [I] want to see in the world.” Which is right? Are they all right?

I connect to the cave people; I want to get away from it all as well. I want build a cabin near Walden Pond and disobey the rules our culture has set. I want to live in a tree and write poetry all day, away from people. But then how would anything get done? Wouldn’t it be better to face adversity and stand up against it? Isn’t there something to be said for the enrichment and satisfaction that comes from meeting different people and gaining new perspectives? One cannot hide under a rock.

I wonder what happened to all of these cave dwellers. I wonder if they all came back to the US or if they stayed in Crete. If they did come back to the States, what became of them? Did they come back and create change? Did they stand up for their ideals? Or did they end up, as The Talking Heads say, living in a beautiful house, with a beautiful wife, wondering where the highway goes to, wondering what has become of the opinions they were once so passionate about? Did they settle into the middle-class American lifestyle they once despised? Did they give up and settle for convention? Will I ultimately do the same?