Sky caught sight of one of those globes in a shop window and thought about boundaries. What did they do? With land they determined the whereabouts of different countries. Two words stood out in that sentence: "determined" and "whereabouts". Such destructive words, she thought. Boundaries defined things. Maybe some things need defined, but some people have to define everything and that's where the problems start. "Definition" - that was another word that bothered Sky. She preferred to live life without these words (although she knew that she too was guilty of clinging to them sometimes).
"Land" was such a promising, exciting word. Like when Columbus discovered land - we never read that Columbus discovered a country with borders and boundaries and rules and regulations. Maybe it was foolish to live life as if it had endless possibilities but Sky didn't want to live life in a box where everyone knew exactly what was happening.
It reminded her of that Michelle Shocked song, "Memories of East Texas" :
"Their lives ran in circles so small They thought they'd seen it all And they did not have time for a girl Who'd seen the ocean
Sky knew there were too many people who hadn't seen the ocean for fear of breaking out of their boxes. That's not living - surely that's merely existing? The Church had been like that for Sky. It had taken the thrill out of God. It had made her restless. Itchy feet. Sky had read in "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" that "a person who wants to live the place where he lives is an unhappy person."
Sky had been unhappy. She'd had so much religious experience that she yearned for something simple. It comforted her to discover that others too were searching. She was reminded of the lyrics of her favourite Mary Black song:
So I dream of Columbus Every time that the panic starts I dream of Columbus With my maps and my beautiful charts I dream of Columbus With an ache in my travelling heart
Panic came when people tried to define things, tried to put names to things, tried to limit Sky by putting her life into boxes. By forcing her to define her identity she would lose her identity. She would feel an ache in her travelling heart.
So she preferred to live life without explanation. It's not that she wasn't accountable to some people - it's just that she wasn't accountable to everyone. Loosening the grip on the reins of her life wasn't such a bad thing after all. If things are structured, defined and explained they are light or easy because you know exactly what's happening. But heaviness or uncertainty meant you lived life to the utmost. In lightness you only scratched the surface of experience.
Sky's friend chose lightness every time. In all the years she'd known him he always chose the lightness and thus surrendered the beauty that the heaviness would bring. And why? Because he knew that with the beauty could come pain, and he wanted to spare himself that - but it meant he never got the beauty either. Sky was grateful that she had read about lightness and heaviness in "The Unbearable Lightness of Being". She wished her friends would go out and buy the book too.