This song analyzes our potential as human beings to desire, create and achieve goals in our "lifetime". The metaphors may be used to reflect our potential as individuals. Neil Peart once explained that this song was inspired by the Chinese proverb "A journey of 1000 miles starts with the first step", that can be associated with "You can do a lot in your lifetime, if you don´t burn out too fast", Peart here is evoking our capacity to understand our pace in Life, be patient and strive for great deeds and to maximize our existence, not with "ambition or greed", but with the joy of achieving our inner dreams. It´s probably the only way to respect our human nature. The main differential with other species is that we have imagination and emotions, why not use this capacities as a trigger for the realization of our mission?
This song analyzes our potential as human beings to desire, create and achieve goals in our "lifetime". The metaphors may be used to reflect our potential as individuals. Neil Peart once explained that this song was inspired by the Chinese proverb "A journey of 1000 miles starts with the first step", that can be associated with "You can do a lot in your lifetime, if you don´t burn out too fast", Peart here is evoking our capacity to understand our pace in Life, be patient and strive for great deeds and to maximize our existence, not with "ambition or greed", but with the joy of achieving our inner dreams. It´s probably the only way to respect our human nature. The main differential with other species is that we have imagination and emotions, why not use this capacities as a trigger for the realization of our mission?