Like a trip on an underground railroad

What if my life is, and has been so far, a hurried, seemingly chaotic journey, like a trip on an underground railroad, taking me past stops that show me something I’ll need to recall later, and hustling me in a jagged, roundabout, yet oddly logical procession to someplace I’ll eventually end up belonging in at last?

What if Allegra’s (the heroine’s) life is the same? She begins young and filled with passion for the ideas she’s learning – but senses there’s a much bigger, undefined, ineffable goal ahead of her. And a bigger, more drawn-out and ongoing struggle than she planned.

Goethe’s couplet, “Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it/Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it,” moves me greatly, as I’ve found it to be true. People often say that hindsight is 20/20. But I think we can catch glimpses of the “divinity that shapes our ends” even right while it’s happening.

I need to remember the power of a logical yet suspenseful plot, one filled with meaningful events whose meaning isn’t always obvious in present time. And to embrace the magic of concerted action, which touches off all manner of serendipities.