We walk alone, but not lonely

Bernie Winterson said...

The hardest step in a thousand mile journey is the first. You should let your readers know that the journey doesn't have to begin alone. That's why some really like your music. The reason for the journey is often the same. Your songs reinforce that. The encouragement that solitude is not solipsism. Though at some point in the journey, you and I know it must inevitably be walked alone.

I just couldn't agree more. It's easy to push the idea of how much we all need to make this journey ourselves, and forget how difficult, how scary a process it is. But there are a lot of people trying to do this, and it's in everyone's interest in this process to help each other out. We all must walk alone, but that doesn't mean that people can't help us along the way, even if it's just telling us that it's worth our time and that the issues faced while doing it are things that other people have gone through.
It is such a tragedy to me that the way so much is structured in our society, it is so difficult to make this first step. So much is pushing in the opposite direction. You need to not only have a desire and an inclination to find your own path, you must also have the strength to go in the opposite direction, the will to say yes when everyone else says no.
Some people will be able to do this process no matter what. Some people will never have any interest in this process. But there are so many people who could do it if they had the chance, if there wasn't so much pressure to stay where you are.
We all walk alone, and the moment we realize that, we can all share in it together.
Thanks for understanding, Bernie