The Car Ride that Started it All

Fredre'Oni sitting in her carseat

Here is a picture of innocence.

Of simplicity.

Of oblivion.

As a child, our world was made by minuscule things. We were happy just to sit in our carseat and see what the world had to offer. We imagined grand adventures discovering facets of ourselves that we hoped we would grow up to be.

And now years later, I have sat through all the required teaching the government guessed I needed to help me be a productive citizen of society. And now years later looking back at this photo, that little girl believed that once she graduated high school she would be the most magnificent being in this world so happy and so full of life.

Well Oni, are you happy? Are you so full of life? Did everything turn out according to that little girl’s plan?

(Where you left off if you drove from social media)

Umm…to everyone’s eyes- definitely, yeah. But genuinely…I don’t know.

I feel as though as we get older, we get so fixated on trying to make the right decision everyday or live the perfect life- we drain ourselves of that childlike wonder that allows us to look at life with love and excitement. We forget about how grand the world is and how minuscule we are to the bigger picture.

I guess what I’m trying to say is I was so fixated on trying to be what I thought everyone else wanted me to be that I forgot about that little girl’s dream. I forgot what it felt like to experience that childlike curiosity and imagine something bigger than the rat race we are all trying to run.

And so to break away from that lifestyle, I am going on an adventure.

A journey of rediscovery. A journey of restarting. A journey through the unknown.

I have been taking trips ever since I graduated and each trip has taught me something new about either myself, the world, others, or both.

This latest trip that I will be sharing about soon is close to my heart because it brought me back. Back to that feeling of being happy. Not split second happy “I got a good grade on a paper or exam and then onto the next assignment”. But genuinely blissful. And I hope that one day you may too go back and find yourself genuinely blissful in that childlike feeling.

The latest trip is also a tribute to my personal college essay. To read my personal college essay, go to "The Personal Essay about a Car".