"Youth is fleeting..." I heard an old man say as we filled up our van with gasoline. I didn't believe him, none of us did, we felt like this would last forever; transient living as a sort of motley art-tribe in a van. Everything we owned was stuffed and packed in this hulking, windowless vehicle. It was all in the name of creation and self exploration, we had decided. A break from tradition and and a veritable "up yours" to the world our parents had tried to present to us. We lived as nomads now, culling flocks of arts-and-crafts projects to sell along the way to fuel our plight into the unknown.
We documented everything, all the emotions, ranging from delirious joy to the darkest depression, all the adventures, hiking, camping, being arrested and so on. There was no action that wasn't captured and frozen by words, photographs, painting or sound recordings or a combination of these elements. Being around one another for weeks on end reveals so many things about others and about one's self that once went unnoticed. Learning to understand how we are perceived by other brought about such shocking self-awareness to our ranks. It was earth-shattering realization to each of us as it was revealed how much we didn't know about ourselves up until this point. As we learned about ourselves, some of the conclusions were not so delightful. Deep hostilities took root as well as numerous betrayals and fractured relationships.
Living life constantly on the move was not an easy thing to do, exhaustion and fatigue was very common amongst our number. Any place that one could rest their head soon became and acceptable sleeping place. This was just one of the prices we had to pay to be able to maintain our willful, and chaotic lifestyle, and we paid willingly. We had successfully sucked the marrow from life, draining the very blood from it's existence and forcing it to submit to our demands. Mastering the arts of transformation, quick recovery, and sincere forgiveness, we carried on even after the van broke down and some of us bought proper houses. As we grew older, our minds and spirits remained on the open road, and our youth was real again and it seems like it's here to stay.
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