Cruisin’ as an action or activity first cemented itself in my vocabulary as a word of use, during a river trip. It was one of those words or phrases that immediately hit me as something to retain because it came across as vaguely cool. I though,”Cruisin! this must be a New Mexican thing… chill.” So I asked my New Mexican friend what the hell he was talking about. He responded, “It means we’re gonna go cruise up that wash… over there” while gesturing over there. Cool lets cruise.
This happened after the first day of a two day river trip down the Rio Chama in northeastern New Mexico. I had just come down or was in the process of coming down from an exceptionally heady acid trip and was still enamored with the world and overthinking all the shit that was going on. Thus, the idea of cruisin’ was especially tantalizing and sank it into my ‘vocabulary of chill’.
I decided to write about it while I was out cruising today. It had been a rather rainy day. I had been to the dentist and my face hurt. I was hanging out inside, then got restless. To cure my restlessness I went outside for a cruise.
Cruising in Dunlap, IA can come in a variety of forms. When I was in high school it usually meant piling into a car or more frequently a truck. When anywhere from three to eight people were crushed into the whip the the cruisin’ commenced. The route was usually at the whim of the driver. The venue was the gravel backroads of rural Harrison, Monona, Shelby, or Crawford Counties while always avoiding the small towns that employed a police force. These cruises were a tradition passed down through generations of kids in western Iowa.
While attending college I developed certain ideologies that didn’t agree with the wayward burning of hydrocarbons for pleasure. I became a idealized snob and my cruises changed. I became more introverted while at home and now tend to go on long walks, runs, or bike rides. This blog post was thought up while I was cruising through the cornfields and pastures surrounding my home.
Nowadays I think while I cruise. I think about what the fuck I do with my life. I think about what I’ve done so far with my life. I think about the broken American Democracy. I think about what it means that a self proclaimed Social Democratic is running for president and how great that is. I think about love. I think about girls. I think about how I only have control of my own cruise. I think about how much I want to do well in life. And I think about cruisin.
I guess life’s a cruise. I have been cruisin’ for the most part since the day I was born. My ass was wiped for me until they told me I had to wipe my own ass. I ate food that was fed to me until it became necessary to feed myself. A lot of my decisions were made for me until I realized it was better to make my own decisions. When I realized I had to make my own decisions I decided I needed college.
I cruised through college. When choosing a path of study I chose the one that interested me, bettered me. I had no interest in training for a job while at college. I realized that high school had been an attempt to indoctrinate me into a system that I’m disenfranchised with. I didn’t want college to be the same. A liberal arts education and an Environmental Studies major taught me a lot about human greed, stupidity, selfishness. I learned to think critically.
With critical thought as a new tool I have decided that a lot of the next decade, give or take a few years, will be dedicated to cruising. I’m going to better myself through experience and critical thought. I’m going cruise until I realize my potential and find a worthy path.
Then, who knows? Maybe the cruise will end or maybe I’ll just cruise with direction.
With that I ask you. Are you cruising? Who are you cruising for? Is your cruise with purpose? How did you decide which direction to cruise in?
I don’t know shit about shit in all reality. I just like to think I do. Cruise on friends. Here’s a link to a letter written by Hunter S. Thompson. The letter is more or less about cruising.
Cheers.
http://yourfriendshouse.com/uncategorised/hunter-s-thompson-on-finding-your-purpose/
bdawgingit 