[at-l] Peter V's discussion of excess baggage and FEAR

[Sloetoe <sloetoe@yahoo.com>]

With apologies to bpl'ers and dual list at-l-ers, I just had to delurk and
respond to Peter V's post. You really provide great insight into the
throughhiker mind, and you brought me right back... Thanks, man. Huge.
Sloetoe
AT'79


   Date: Thu, 24 Aug 2000 22:26:35 -0700
   From: John Or Peter <fluff@inreach.com>
Subject: the subject was FEAR.

i have been on this list awhile. i have learned how to make a stove that
floats in air, find a sleeping bag that weighs a pound, buy a pack that's so
light that it doesn't work outside, and sew a tarp, my total list of items i
carry is dropping under 20 pounds for a trek across alaska. the entire list
is about 150 line items. what i am trying to say is , the amount of Improved
Daily information on ultralight packing is REALLY FINITE. things will get
lighter still, but the curve has flattened out. in short. equipment, without
change, is boring. unless you really like yet Another scintillating
discussion of how to make a water filter. (it's in the archives). there is a
Lot More to going lite than dumping excess pounds. there is the relief of
Any Burden that will aid us in attaining higher goals. stress, fear, hate,
sloth, worry/anxiety, pain, all these things at least are burdens carried
by many of us.

the original subject was not "guns" per say, but FEAR. fear is a much more
an important thing than all the weight we save put together. fear limits our
abilities to succeed, and dampens the spirit. this fear comes from somewhere,
inside, outside, whatever. we generate it. discussing why/where/how it got
there IS a viable subject for packing. some of our members seem to not
generate a lot of fear, of ANYTHING. some worry a LOT. how is it that there
can be a difference? i think the difference is knowledge, i.e. - the truth
will set you free. i think ,  we got fear? we got either real problem, or we
got the stupids.

i know a little bit about grizzly bears, met quite a few this summer as i
walked the reverse route of the caribou migration and waded thru the carnage
wrought by predators of all types. oh yeah, bears all over the place. was i
in a state of "fear"? nope. because i felt that i knew what i was doing, and
was constantly engaged in doing my best to not have a problem. hence, NO
FEAR.

does this mean i "know what i am doing", oh goodness absolutely not. but
i'll tell you this. NO FEAR.

and for the record, i dumped a trainload of anxiety out there in the
canadian bush this last july. more time for ME, less time wasted worrying,
more time spent attaining. more miles, less pain, a better person. during
this summer my sleeping bag was one pound too heavy. SO FRIKKEN WHAT ! what
mattered most was dumping that staggering ton of useless emotion i was
toting around for Years. does this mean i was logically correct on how i got
to the point of performing this exorcism? absolutely not ! but it worked,
and No More anxiety.

we got people here what don't worry about being a victim, they are telling
us how. that is knowledge. listen to them. they are Winning. if some of us
sometimes can only see ourselves as victims, that's a pretty big burden to
carry. we would be Loosing. we can do better.

where the lies come from Is relevant. being as we are bombarded with lies
and spins, and so seldom the truth, a trusting soul (a gullible fool) is
setting themselves up to fail. and GUILT, jeese, i almost forgot guilt. oh
how could we ever get enough time to go for a decent walk if we can't put
guilt in it's place?

i've gone on far enough for now. but there is a lot more to walking than
water filters and photons.

peter v.



=====
"A man who is not a liberal in his youth has no heart.
     And  a man who is not a conservative in his maturity
   has no brain."         W.Churchill


Call me 'middle-aged.'    T.McGinnis

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