Victorian Thoughts for a 21st Century

Victorian Thoughts for a 21st Century
Current mood: geeky

Warning: This blog supports assumption that Ms. Wild is a giant nerd.

As I studied for my Victorian final this past week, I became frustrated with the pages of smeared notes piled in front of me and the massive Norton anthology that lay open, covered with highligter battlewound marks. My vanilla latte could not distract me from the piles of cafe trays and post-it-notes that littered my desk, as I fought the fury of finals week.

Normally I like to learn, but when faced with a deadline or cummulative test, somehow all the pleasure seems to die away. It was in that moment that I decided to push aside all the things that I should be faithfully memorizing, and try to simply discover why these words were important.

Here is what I discovered...

I'm Happiest When Most Away By Emily Bronte

I'm happiest when most away

I can bear my soul from its home of clay

On a windy nigh when the moon is bright

And the eye can wander through worlds of light--



When I am not and none beside--

Nor the earth no sea nor cloudless sky--

But only spirit wandering wide

Through infinite immensity.



Somehow I think that Emily got it right....I do feel happiest when most away. I treasure the times when I am driving fast under an open sky illuminated with moonlight, or when I'm watching the sun sink below city skyscrapers while peering out of the windows of the Bangkok BTS. I am fully content when standing alone gazing at the possibility of openess that stands before me, as my spirit is freed from its home of clay and dances through the breeze towards that infinite immsensity. Sometimes a quite coffee and a soulful song are the best companions as I wander through metaphorical worlds of light.

When I am away, it helps me recognize the valuable things that I have left behind, while allowing me to taste the promise of adventure before me.

I concluded that these words matter, as they still evoke meaning hundreds of years later despite the differences in the worlds that have embraced them.

Somehow it really doesn't matter if I memorized all the names and learned every theory. Sometimes you just have to take the meaningful moments that come, and remember why you cared to take the class in the first place.