At 20, sating my hunger for travel at Forsythe Park in Savannah, Georgia
Here’s a poem I wrote when I was 20 years old. It expresses my hunger for life and excitement for what lay ahead of me. It also reveals an insatiable restlessness developed through years of being a shut-in (I can’t think of more than one close friend I’ve made in college; that’s how serious I was about getting the hell out). The title of the poem doesn’t mean I was afraid of heading forward; walking sideways means living in the moment while keeping your goals in sight.
Facing My Future, I Walk Sideways
by Alisa DamasoI need to get out tonight –
every night –
regardless of the destination or what I have to do the next day.
I need to condition myself to live –
to live restlessly,
to never stop
moving,
thinking,
talking,
laughing,
singing.
To never stop
loving.I will not sleep until I have to.
I will not stop.
I’d say I’m experiencing a similar feeling these days, now that I’m on my own. Yes, my lust for life has been reanimated, but so has my hunger for producing and refining my life’s work. I am a machine, finally pursuing all the projects I set down years ago, building my portfolio and taking on freelance gigs to build my professional experience. I’m working diligently on my website for creatives (my next big opus) and I plan on launching it within the next few months. Living on my own has revitalized my motivation, jolted my creativity and pushed me to an amazing momentum I haven’t ridden in a very, very long time.
Having to take care of myself and living off of my savings makes it so much more imperative to beat down obstacles with my fists and achieve my goals like a bad-ass. Cheers to adulthood!
