"Amazing"
by William Anthony Bardel
Throughout your life, you hear about how gorgeous the ocean is, how it seems to go on forever, how “amazing” it is. You hear about the mountains, how stoic they are, how they seem as if they’ll stand forever, how “amazing” they are.
Three years ago, two close friends and I went on a road trip to California. It was an interesting trip, but not for the “amazing” things I saw. We drove for two days, we saw old friends, and I saw the ocean ... it was vast, it was huge, it seemed as if it would go on forever ... but it was not “amazing.” For so long the ocean had been built up to be a breathtaking sight, but I was unimpressed. We stayed in California for a week, I saw the sun rise and set on the big water, and it was nice ... but not breathtaking. We drove through Colorado, I saw the mountains ... they were tall, they were strong, they seemed as if they would stand forever, but they were not “amazing.” There are people everywhere who are awed by the presence of mountains; I am not one of them.
Most of my life has been spent in the southwest suburbs of Chicago -- perhaps once a year, I see the city. I have always loved the city, but I didn’t know why, and didn’t identify what I felt while I was downtown. Two years ago, I spent a semester at Columbia College Chicago, and the feeling had not changed -- I loved being downtown, but I still had not tried to put my finger on just what it was that I felt. Maybe I was afraid that if I figured it out, the feeling would vanish ... and I didn’t want that to happen.
Earlier this year I read Atlas Shrugged and discovered what I felt when I was downtown. Exaltation! Rejoice! Challenge! Awe! Celebration! Importance! Life!
Not too long after reading Atlas I spent a day in Chicago, and to my relief the feeling did not dissipate. It grew, and grew, and grew ....
Your whole life you hear about so many “amazing” things in the world, but I wonder how many of these things would really amaze me. I am, however, certain of at least one thing that does.
It isn’t just seeing the skyscrapers, and it isn’t just seeing the hustle and bustle. It’s experiencing everything that the city is, and that is amazing.
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