Ridiculous, right?
Romanticizing being a runaway?
This not about leaving home, no.
It's about always evading that which threatens to tie us down.
Tie us down in one place...to one monotonous career, or one option out of an array of things that we truly love.
It's about running away from that which threatens to tie us to a restricted way of life, or a life loop, with seemingly no way out if needed.
Basically, anything that ties us to the ordinary.
Most of us runaways, we fear the ordinary.
Waking up every day at 6am and going to work for someone, doing something we don't like.
Or going to work every day, doing something we like, governed by principles we don't believe in.
Imagine! Having to pretend to like people for over 2 years. Then having financial obligations which trap you here.
Nowhere to run to if you had no means of survival, no family farm, no family property, no upcountry space owned by you or your kin. That place where all you need are your hands to cultivate and care for the animals, if only for food. You know, as you recenter.
When you fear the ordinary, you work your way out of the path that leads there, and avoid anything that threatens to hinder your new path.
Sometimes it's not about the job, the friendship, or the path. It's the rigidity of it.
Knowing that there is no easy way to engage elsewhere because you have NO CHOICE.
Knowing that you might end up neglecting some the things that make you who you are.
All because of needs whose way of fulfillment is not flexible.
Imagine, having absolutely no time and space to enhance your piano-playing skills because you cannot afford a nanny.
Or never having time for tennis because you don't leave work until 6pm.
Or giving up dancing because your spouse's family does not like it and you depend on them for your livelihood.
Tragic, isn't it?
Totally justified!
The runaway attitude, however, sometimes makes us miss out.
We miss out on wonderful people that we misjudged, wonderful life paths that we pre-judged and avoided, and amazing experiences that we opted out of
Sometimes, we even miss out on love and affection.
Sometimes, we runaway because we don't want the responsibility that comes with certain things.
Like the responsibility of maintaining large friendship circles. The friend's who get mad when you miss attending their recital because you chose to visit your mom.
The ones who want at least 10 minutes of your time each day.
It's not the lack of love for them that draws the wedge, but the different perspectives on life.
We leave them feeling unappreciated, and rightfully so.
According to them, what we chose to do over being with them matters more.
According to some, what we don't do for them we are doing for others.
But the thing is, that's not necessarily the case.
Sometimes, we, the runaways, just needed the space to decompress.
Some of us, we need 3 days to recharge after a day of fully blown socialization activities.
Some of us, we need the solitude to just come back to ourselves.
If we don't, we end up neglecting the core parts of who we are. We neglect our responsibilities.
We need the slave if we are to stay the people that our friends love so much.
