The Myth of Bobcaygeon

Or any other paradise.

In this week’s SFTJ song prompt we’re visiting a mythical dream, portrayed in the lyrics of a small Canadian town that lies about 100 miles north of Toronto.

We all have our own Bobcaygeon. Maybe it’s a place we used to visit on vacations as a child. Maybe it’s a place we’ve never been, and yet long to visit. Or maybe it’s not a real place at all, but just an ideal way of life. And we think that if we could only get to this place, all would be right in the world.

A change of scenery can be good at times, sure. But it won’t fix your problems. They’ll be right there waiting on you when you unpack in the next place.

When I told a friend that I was working on this essay she said, “Are you sure about that, Mikie? Are you absolutely sure that you can’t run?”

My reply was, oh you can run, sure. But you can’t escape them…

Problems, that is. I know this from experience. There is no escape. You must pay the Piper. Period. Relocating in order to escape is just pushing them further down the road. And more than likely than not, they’ll just be bigger once you’re forced to face them again.

Epictetus tells us that we should take action now.

“How long are you going to wait before you demand the best for yourself and in no instance bypass the discriminations of reason? You have been given the principles that you ought to endorse, and you have endorsed them. What kind of teacher, then, are you still waiting for in order to refer your self-improvement to him? You are no longer a boy, but a full-grown man. If you are careless and lazy now and keep putting things off and always deferring the day after which you will attend to yourself, you will not notice that you are making no progress, but you will live and die as someone quite ordinary.

From now on, then, resolve to live as a grown-up who is making progress, and make whatever you think best a law that you never set aside. And whenever you encounter anything that is difficult or pleasurable, or highly or lowly regarded, remember that the contest is now: you are at the Olympic Games, you cannot wait any longer, and that your progress is wrecked or preserved by a single day and a single event.” -Epictetus

Running off to Bobcaygeon, won’t fix your problems. A place isn’t what makes a paradise. Paradise can only be found when we are at peace. And peace can only be found after we confront the obstacle standing in our way.

And if there is a special place out there that you truly want to visit or live — start working towards it today. Don’t delay any longer, take action — remember the contest is now.

The longer we wait, the bigger the obstacle is going to get. So fix your eye on your goal and Keep Choppin!

Keep Choppin

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I Hope this’ll inspire you to make your own submission to this week’s writing prompt, Bobcaygeon, by The Tragically Hip.

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