The American Journey
"The only journey is one within." --Rainer Maria Rilke
As far as the American Experience goes, the emphasis should be placed on the fact that as long as you continue to try, continue to learn, and continue to grow from the American Experience, you have not failed. And the reverse is true, as well: success is not necessarily conducive of being a champion of the American Experience. As long as a person believes that the ends justify the means, they will never experience the true and most profound meaning of the American Experience; that, "Any traveler who misses the journey misses about all he's gonna get."
The American Experience is exactly what it says on the tin: an experience, a journey that is meant to be taken. It is not a guarantee of success, nor is it a promise of failure. What you take away from the Experience is up to you, for it is truly about what you experience and what you learn along the way. The quote at the top of this page from Rainer Maria Rilke is what truly expresses this: "The only journey is the one within." Because of this, the journey that each person takes on the American Experience will be different, but will all share these common threads of chasing ideals, of optimism in the face of failure, and a focus on the, "joy in the journey," and not on the ending. Each Experience will be similar, and yet individualistic, and that is what makes the journey so important: no one else will experience what you experience, and so no one will be able to teach you what you learn from the American Experience. It is truly up to you.
This is also why the American Experience can never truly die. There will always be another ideal to chase, another future to look forward to, and there will always be more to learn and experience and grow from. The American Experience will stick around, uncorrupted, as long as we remember not to get entangled in the destination and dreams of the past, and that the joy is in the journey.
The American Experience is exactly what it says on the tin: an experience, a journey that is meant to be taken. It is not a guarantee of success, nor is it a promise of failure. What you take away from the Experience is up to you, for it is truly about what you experience and what you learn along the way. The quote at the top of this page from Rainer Maria Rilke is what truly expresses this: "The only journey is the one within." Because of this, the journey that each person takes on the American Experience will be different, but will all share these common threads of chasing ideals, of optimism in the face of failure, and a focus on the, "joy in the journey," and not on the ending. Each Experience will be similar, and yet individualistic, and that is what makes the journey so important: no one else will experience what you experience, and so no one will be able to teach you what you learn from the American Experience. It is truly up to you.
This is also why the American Experience can never truly die. There will always be another ideal to chase, another future to look forward to, and there will always be more to learn and experience and grow from. The American Experience will stick around, uncorrupted, as long as we remember not to get entangled in the destination and dreams of the past, and that the joy is in the journey.