An Unlikely Pilgrimage

I vaguely recall my emotional state. I had just turned the final page of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry after a day of reading and had begun to descend into the emotional chaos of post-inspirational-book disorder. Despair, profound happiness, obsession, and an overpowering emptiness overwhelmed me. In my state, I managed to reach into my desk and retrieve a pen and a note card, flip through the book, and copy down my favorite quote: “It was hard to understand a little and then walk away”. Setting my book down, I took the note card and hung it on the wall right next to my mirror—my quote wall—with a piece of tape. The quote joined the 41 other poems, quotes, and lyrics. As I stood back and read the familiar words on each card, I could not convince myself to look away.  However, I reminded myself I never truly distance myself from quotes; I never really look away. In fact, I probably read more quotes daily than I see people. Every day, hundreds of fragments of sentences resonate with me, if only for a moment. 42 excerpts hang beside my mirror. One quote greets me every morning in English class. I told myself that my quotes always stay with me because they allow retrace my steps, return to their familiar words when I cannot find my way. Whether admiring the wall or not, I can still revisit them because they provide wisdom and comfort. They help me understand a little about myself and my past while pointing me in the direction of my future. Leaving the wall does not mean I have to walk away. A while after I re-read the note cards, I convinced myself to leave the quote wall and placed the book back on the bookshelf. The emptiness still lingered, but quotes flooded my head to fill the void. As always, old memories resurfaced: images of me, as a young girl, toiling with contributing in class in elementary school, middle school, high school; visions of me, a bit older, struggling to determine which talent I should pursue, which path I should follow to fulfillment. Once again, I stood and returned to the quote wall.  The words welcomed me warmly and reminded me of a childhood dream. My fantasy of a day when students will walk into first period English, look up to the board and read my words. I could not walk away.