Buy Your F*ing Ticket to California

I’m not a travel agent. I don’t care which airline you fly. But please, do yourself a major favor and buy yourself a f*ing ticket to California.

This is a metaphor. Of course.

California represents gold, dreams, possibility. Buying a ticket is a commitment to going somewhere.

Make a commitment to your dreams, your gold, your possibility. Yourself.

*  *  *

I grew up in the suburbs of a small city in Pennsylvania. It was nice enough, but somewhere in my teenaged years I realized that it was small. Small population. Small ideas. Small opportunities. The world was big and I wanted to chew on a piece of it.

By the time I graduated high school I needed to get the hell out. That turned out to be a bit more difficult than it seemed. Soon after picking up my diploma a good friend was killed in a car crash. Another got cancer. Another fell to suicide. And another had a serious tangle with the violence of the world. I was tethered to my hometown by fear, ghosts, family, insecurity.

I made my escape a few times but I always returned. What was known and familiar appeared safe. And I, like everyone else, want at least some degree of safety.

We all need physical safety. It’s built into our biology. If we don’t have it, we might get eaten by a dinosaur. Or run over by an SUV.

We also seek emotional safety, security, certainty. We need this stuff too. Except there’s a dark side. If we don’t watch out it can suck us into a rut. It happens in relationships, jobs, fitness, whatever. It’s easy to miss, because it often comes on slow, but before you know it, you stop growing, exploring, creating, learning, challenging yourself. That just ain’t cool. And it’s certainly not NFA.

Take a good look around your life. Scope out your blind spots. Identify your ruts, stagnations. See what you can find in the dark corners.

Make a plan. It doesn’t matter if it’s baby steps or a giant leap into the unknown. Do it. Whatever it is, it’s better than standing still or swirling around in your own crap pattern.

Wherever you wanna go, whatever you wanna do, save up the (metaphorical) dough to make the purchase. Take a deep breath.

Buy your f*ing ticket to California.

________________________________

What is the literal translation of your ticket to California?

What stops you?

Where is your safety? You sense of adventure?