{"product_id":"2940044245013","title":"Affirmations of Life","description":"\u003cp\u003eI could've been anything I wanted. Instead I chose to drop out of society. I was 22 when I left Portland State University to hitchhike the United States with a homeless Sioux Indian I barely knew. I left because I felt like a ventriloquist's dummy with someone else’s arm up my ass, someone else’s thoughts in my head, and someone else’s words in my mouth.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOver the course of two years, I went from lover to lover, place to place, searching for authenticity and vitality in a strictly-programmed society populated by robots. My road lead to a choice: I could deny my own essence and live the stale life prescribed to me, or I could be myself, raw and unedited, and endure a penniless, rootless existence outside its borders.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI knew I couldn’t return to civilization; road life had revealed it to be a farce. And I knew I’d find no solace or satisfaction in the wasteland beyond its limits. My new perspective would separate me from everything and everyone. My home would be the endless road; my purpose, a search for authenticity; my soul-mate, Wanderlust. It was 2005 when I set out. I've been on the road ever since.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Sarah Handyside","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47071902335216,"sku":"2940044245013","price":3.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940044245013_p0.jpg?v=1763661291","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940044245013","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}