Goin' Down the Road...

There are many roads__and many more ways of following them. Few however ever leave the comfort of their "local, familiar, safe__neighborhood". (i'm not just talking a physical place here... think about it)

Long term RV'ers have a flavor of what drives them that chase Rodeo. But__while RV'ers are restless souls that have the urge to wander, The Rodeo Bum is Driven.

Compounding that irresistible hunger__ those in Rodeo have dual passions, addictions really. Following the paint stripes to the next big Rodeo is only one; and the miles and far horizons is the smaller of the two.

The great passion which fuels that fire inside is Rodeo itself. Understand this; It isn't something they enjoy. It is not a thing they like-- It is what they NEED. It is a consuming passion. They live it. They breathe it. Without it they will suffocate. It is an element required for survival as much as is water and air. It is their reason for being.

It s a throbbing passion within them that few souls on this earth are blessed to know. Those in Rodeo are profoundly fortunate to be possessed by such an addiction__and the majority, in one manner or another, know it.

For those outside of it__and for those who lack any such passion__I am profoundly sad.

I have always been a person of great and fiery passions. I go all out, to hell with consequences and the rest__or nothing.

When I look around around me in this world I see the grey existence of the masses. I see a world of people who lack a passion for which they would risk all. I have tried, but I cannot conceive of living a life of agonizing tedium void of such exhilaration.

I can only imagine it would be like being so thirsty for__something__that your tongue sticks to the roof of your mouth... so hoping for some relief from that ache in your guts, for you know not what, you lift an imaginary glass of cool water to your lips__ and __ Nothing. Your hand is empty. There's nothing there and your soul goes on starving.

The difference between the two is Fear. What holds people back from reaching out and taking a grasp on LIFE is, and always will be, Fear.

Most have been taught to submit and subordinate their lives to Fear.

A fortunate few grew up amongst double rectified Cowboys!  They were taught to despise and confront Fear. To grab it by the throat and squeeze all the juice out of it.

Life was never created to be spent grinding it away in a cage of social convention and approval. That is simply allowing your spirit and soul to be converted into an obedient and colorless machine.

It is akin to foaling Secretariat in a dark barn; Then keeping him imprisoned from birth to death in a windowless stall... walking mindlessly on a treadmill to power... social convention and approval.

What an OBSCENITY that would have been! And... What It Is!

Some feel that void inside created by the absence of Passion. But, they don't know the source of the ache. They focus their intellect on hunting down the cause, but all they know is what they've been taught. They search without knowing what it is they're looking for.

How-some-ever... what they've been taught, for some reason, rings false in their ears and so they quietly, and some not so quietly, spend years hunting for the cause before they discover it.

They reach blindly for what they've always been taught to avoid.

We are much taught by those around us who hide behind their own fears. If they can convince us to surrender as well and hide with them; they avoid being left cowering alone.

Most will never summon the cajones to lift their foot and step off into unknown space.

Those that do persevere with their hearts reaching for that missing "piece" of their souls, in defiance of their Fear__ will discover a world of Joy beyond compare__ and the one true purpose of life...

Joy__ and __ LIVING!

 Brian