When I was 10 years old, I begged my mom to buy me a National Geographic magazine for the plane ride to Seattle, Washington. Looking through the magazine I became enamored with Zion National Park. It was a dream vacation of mine up until we visited Utah a year ago, where I finally got to see Zion. Ever since then I have fallen in love with the mountains and the western landscape.
Being a senior means making lots of life choices. I very well could choose to go to college in the mountains and be where I find comfort. Or I could stay close to home, where college is cheaper and closer to the people I love. Many choices and opportunities will present themselves to me over the next few months and recently I've been finding myself quoting one of my favorite analogies. Sylvia Plath’s, The Bell Jar, describes a fig tree that represents the main character's life. Looking up from the trunk of the fig tree you see hundreds of branches, and at the end of each branch is a fig. Each fig represents a different life for the main character. For example one fig is a stay at home mom, one is a journalist, and so forth but she takes too long choosing a fig and in that time all the figs rot.
I’ve been comparing my life to Sylvia’s fig tree: I could move to the mountains, or stay at home, I could become an Occupational Therapist, or a teacher, or I could become a Mom. I cherish each of these figs and want every one of them.
I believe in Sylvia Plath’s fig tree but does choosing one fig necessarily mean that I lose them all. I believe the story continues on after the figs rot, spring will arrive and new figs will grow. Right now my figs show me my dreams, but as the seasons of my life change my fig tree ripens and offers different opportunities.
When I was 10 years old, it was just a dream to go see Zion, however in a few years I would get the opportunity to be able to go. Choosing one fig right now, doesn’t mean I am bound by what that Fig provides. In choosing that fig I am making room for others. I could choose to stay close to home during college, but be presented a job opportunity in the mountains once I graduate.
I don’t need to have my whole life figured out right now. For Sylvia’s fig tree does not die when the figs do, it simply adapts and creates new figs.
