When I hear the word America, the simple melodies of Simon and Garfunkel’s “America” drift through my mind…
“All gone to look for America.”
To find America, each one of us must first find ourselves. Beyond the economic power, the political influence, and the environmental patchwork of this country, America can only be found in the soul of an American. My country never causes me to bear the weight of constraints on my identity as in other parts of the world. Instead, my struggle centers on who I will become, knowing that I have the freedom to be the woman my heart creates, whoever she may be. In America, our boundless freedoms create a collage of people, all speaking different tongues, worshipping different Gods, and choosing different paths on the journey towards the American Dream. With freedom to define our own lives comes great responsibility to be the Americans our country expects of us.
Us. America is Us. We are America. We are America in our faults and failures. We are America when we strive to reach the Dream, but our lives don’t match up to its high standards. That is why being an American means creating your own Dream, locating the coordinates of your own life, pinpointing exactly who you are as an American.
33° 57 12”N, 84° 32’ 26” W
These are the coordinates of my life, the pin on the map of the path God carved solely for me. America’s mantra for my heart echoes the phrase, “you have a purpose.” As citizens of earth, we have purpose. As citizens of America, we have the freedom to fulfill that purpose. Engrained in our souls is the inalienable right and inwardly consuming duty to find ourselves in this consecrated land and to declare who we are to our fellow citizens, whether with subtle grace or outward affection for our identities. America to me proclaims, “You are here. You are here for a purpose. You are American for a purpose. Now, go find that purpose.” My name is Rachel Eubanks and I am an American.
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