The Rat Race

Let’s get into it.

When I was in my early twenties, I began to feel that I was chasing a life that didn’t belong to me. Mind you, I was doing everything right on paper: I had a full-time job and was in steady relationship, which would eventually take me down the path of one who would have a family and live a traditional life. I was supposed to be "happy" because I was the perfect mold of who everyone expected me to be, but I felt like I was betraying every part of myself that had hoped for something more. Unfortunately, at the age of 22, it meant giving up on most of my hopes and dreams.

I woke up.

I realized that everything that I had ever believed would make me happy was part of a larger system designed to keep society in homeostasis. I was going through life, doing as I was told without question, and I felt empty and powerless. Do well in school to go to a good college so you can get a good job, get wed, and have a family. Checking things off but I didn’t ever question why.

Do these rules make sense and have we questioned them?

Not really, because most believe this is how we should live our lives because everybody else around us and before us has done so, and we should too. But we only have one shot at life, so shouldn't we be free to live it anyway we want? Forever Journey Mood was originally created to inspire me to live a life that followed my wanderlust, but it has grown into more. It's become the mindset of those who recognize themselves for what they create out of their lives—this one try. Welcome to a safe space where we can feel free to define what happiness means to us. Vamos a vivir :)

Author: Leslie Lung