The American Cowboy. It’s a myth. No, not a myth as in it never happened. But a myth that shapes our self-understanding and purpose. It’s a myth in the way a sociologist uses the word: it shapes our view of the world and gives us a common bond as a society.
To many the American Cowboy is a great image of self-reliance. But other groups will call it a harmful myth keeping people from being community focused. In the business world I’ve heard the line “he’s a cowboy” be used as a derogatory reference to somebody who goes off the tracks and does his or her own thing.
Me and my brother, Bob Marshall Wilderness, in the mid 1980’s.
Here’s the funny thing. Both views are correct. They are merely seeing it through a different lens.
The myth of the cowboy is about individualism, riding alone across great open spaces, completely dependent on his own resources. Hard work, long hours, tough conditions … but free, independent, mobile, unanchored to any place or person or idea.
All of us want some aspect of this. If not all the time, but at least sometimes. I’ve yet to meet a young parent who hasn’t wanted to trade the kids and home for a few days alone in the countryside. We all have that kind of dream inside us to be free of responsibilities and live life on our own terms.
I come from a long line of these dreamers. Independence and self-determination are sacrosanct in my family. Just look at the picture to the right; me with my brother on a Montana fishing trip, disconnecting from the world, not giving a damn what anybody thought. Playing cowboy.
But the price is steep if we make it our only way of living. We separate ourselves from those we love. We lack attachment to a special place. We shirk off the responsibility of family, church, spouse, children, and community. Sounds freeing for a little while, but we lose so much richness in life if we try to avoid it all.
Those who advocate self reliance are right — we need to own our life, our work, our decisions, our relationships, and our ideas. Maybe we can’t all pull ourselves up by our bootstraps, but there’s no reason for not trying.
Those who feel the focus on the Cowboy is too narrow are also right. We need to live in relationships and collaboration. America always has, actually, even during the time of the Cowboy.
We are a people who love coming together — democracy has a way of promoting that. We are involved in Rotary, little league, after school drama groups, bunco, bible studies, gourmet groups, health clubs, arts councils … the list is endless and diverse. We need this in our lives if we are going to be fully engaged with the richness of life.
The American Cowboy is a myth. But as Tolkien once said to C.S. Lewis about the Bible, it’s a myth that actually happened. How we deal with the American Cowboy myth says a lot about how we come together as a nation.