[at-l] Post-Partum Depression

[spiriteagle99@hotmail.com (Jim and/or Ginny Owen)]

This was something that was posted on pct-l by someone I've never met, but 
consider a friend.  I asked Greg if I could re-post it here because he puts 
into words something that many of us feel but cannot express.

I need to write something like this as closure for the last two years, but 
I'm not ready to even try it yet.  So I appreciate Greg's words because it 
makes our experience more poignant, more urgent and more sharply focussed.

Walk softly,
Jim





>[pct-l] Re: [pctl] Post-Partum Depression
>Bighummel@aol.com Mon, 9 Jul 2001 17:15:12 EDT
>
>>a discussion I would like to hear on pct-l is what about the post->>partum 
>>depression a month or two after successfully completing the PCT or any 
>>other hiking challenge
>
>My darkest depression came about a month after returning from my thruhike 
>when interviewed by a local newspaper in Santa Barbara.  The reporter and 
>photographer came up to the home I was living in, near the Mission.  They 
>wanted a shot of me, with pack, in a natural setting and it was almost 
>difficult to find one that had no sign of man in it.  That single issue, 
>that I had returned from general >immersion in wilderness to saturation in 
>society, struck me so hard and depressed me for days.
>
>However, in this depression I recognized and solidified the knowledge that 
>what drove me, what was essential and necessary to feel "successful" in 
>this trek, what was the single most important thing to me was:
>
>I had become so confident in my own capabilities as to become completely 
>secure, comfortable and "at home" in the wilderness, gaining a fuller 
>appreciation of wilderness.
>
>Nothing else came close in importance.  Not 2600 miles, not Mexico to 
>Canada, not Across the United States, not Thruhike In A Single Year, not 43 
>miles in a single day, not beating anyone to anywhere.
>
>My greatest fear before leaving was that this would not occur.  My greatest 
>triumph was the realization that I had attained my ultimate goal.  The most 
>difficult thing to come to terms with has been the tradeoff of that for 
>higher priority things in my life.  I am gradually trying to bring both 
>together.
>
>The depression has never really faded away.  It has merely evolved into an 
>understanding of choices and consequences.
>
>Best regards,
>
>Greg "Strider" Hummel

>"the grass was greener . . . the light was brighter . . . the nights of 
>wonder . . . with friends surround us . . ."
>                        Pink Floyd, "The Division Bell"


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