Today, I am thankful for the realization that life is a journey, not a destination.
Although humans of the Homo sapiens species have lived on the Earth for nearly 500,000 years, the average human existence is relatively short. Recognizing our individual longevity is brief, and at best 100 years, one can comfortably assume that at least 5,000 generations of humans have existed since the beginning of H. sapiens. Nevertheless, our relatively short personal lives are filled with significant twists and turns, especially as we progress from infancy into childhood and from adolescence into various stages of adulthood. This odyssey in life can be blissfully cheerful and rewarding at one turn, and seemingly unendurable and agonizing at the next (e.g., COVID-19). Before long, we begin to acknowledge the odyssey for what it is – a journey without a predefined destination.
Before humans learned to pen words to paper, orators such as Homer told epic stories of the journeys of life. In his two masterful tales, the Iliad and the Odyssey, the famous Greek poet introduces us to the King of the Greek island of Ithaca, Odysseus, who chooses somewhat reluctantly to depart his homeland to join other gallant Greeks in their audacious fight against the city-state of Troy. Desperately seeking to restore honor to the Spartan throne and their disrespected king, Menelaus, whose beautiful wife Helen was kidnapped by the handsome Trojan warrior named Paris, Odysseus joined the war effort. He entrusted his entire household to his faithful old friend, Mentor, in the care of his young prince son, Telemechus. After a grueling battle that lingers for a decade, the Greeks would prevail with the help of some ingenuity and a large wooden horse.
However, Odysseus’ valiant attempt to return to his beloved Ithaca after the victory would result in another 10-year endeavor. In retaliation for the Greek army’s destruction of the religious temples during the battle of Troy, the Greek Gods punish Odysseus by taking him on a life-altering journey. They set a decade-long course that forces Odysseus to wander the seas aimlessly with his crew from one fateful adventure to another. By this time, his son Telemachus is a sophisticated adult who sets off on an ardent quest to find his father. Eventually, father and son are fully reunited, and the duo returns to reclaim Ithaca from suitors who had unlawfully usurped the throne from his wife and mother, Penelope. Odysseus and Telemachus succeed in disposing of the suitors, and the story ends happily ever after. Through this poem, Homer teaches us that life is often a litany of odysseys, a term we attribute to our Greek protagonist (though some of you might also know him by his Roman counterpart, Ulysses, thanks to Virgil’s Aeneid).
Nearly, 10,000 years later, the Irish novelist James Joyce would contrive a tale of the modern journey of man, in his novel Ulysses. However, unlike the epic Greek poem that transpires over a decade, this fascinating novel takes place over a single day. Ulysses chronicles the sad plight and nomadic wanderings of a simple Irishman, Leopold Bloom, exactly 116 years ago today, on June 16, 1904. However, unlike the heroic character in the classic poem by Homer who seeks to return home, Bloom spends his entire day seeking refuge away from his home, where his scandalous wife awaits a mid-afternoon rendezvous. The novel has drawn the admiration of many for various authoring elements, complex plot, and its ability to showcase the intricate foibles of daily life. Today, Joyce fans around the globe celebrate ‘Bloomsday’ in tribute to this quirky protagonist. I’d rather call it ‘Odysseus Day’ for obvious reasons.
As I age, I’m beginning to treasure the journey in my life. Although the odyssey is often anxiety provoking, the ride is undoubtedly interesting. Who knows what my journey has in store for me later today, let along in a decade?
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