[at-l] RE: Why the Grand Unification Theory - isn't

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

Shane wrote:

><FALSE BRAVADO>
>
>How dare you disagree with me!  Don't you know who you are dealing with!?!
>
></FALSE BRAVADO>
>
>:)

Uh, well, not really, but I'm learning - and enjoying the experience
:-)))

And I'll snip some of this ----

>>Most of the human population in this world cannot comprehend why
>>we would want to leave our technologically advanced lives...
>
>You are absolutely correct.  The Grand Unification Theory only works for 
>the technologically depraved - those who are separated from the natural 
>world.
>
>Those who live in the natural world naturally crave our comforts, but if 
>you give them our lifestyle, they will eventually desire a return to their 
>natural habitat.

Hmmm - sometimes, but not necessarily. Read on ---


>Let's say we took a naked Bushman out of the heat of the summer, and put 
>him up at the Waldorf Astoria.  Fine food, comfortable beds, running water, 
>swimming pool, fine shopping, TV, AC, and all the >lavish luxuries of 
>modern society.  He would be in heaven.  Everything he could ever want 
>handed to him without pause or problem.  He doesn't >have to hunt, fish, 
>gather food, search for water, or go through the >trouble of starting a 
>fire.  He would settle into this life quite >comfortably for quite a while.
>
>But then what?  The novelty wears off.  Slowly, he would begin to desire 
>going outside - and eventually he would want to escape into the wild, if 
>only for a little while.

Sometimes - that's where the expression "walkabout" came from.  And for some 
segment of the transplanted population, it works exactly like that.  But 
there's another segment that wouldn't go back to their origins for any 
reason - which is why "walkabout" is considered an aberration.  I can give 
you names on both sides of that scenario - but I wouldn't even guess at how 
the percentages split out.

I have a Haitian friend, for example, who applauds (and supports) our long 
hikes - but would NEVER attempt anything beyond a couple mile dayhike or an 
overnight in a motorhome.  That fits very nicely with the GUT.  But I have 
another friend whose wife is Central American - and objected violently to 
his PCT thruhike attempt because (in her words) - "only guerrillas go into 
the woods and mountains - and they'll kill you".  She also has good reason 
for her attitude.  The list of people I know on each side is endless - and 
for my part, there's no obvious "universal" truth involved.  Contrary to the 
general attitude on this list - not "everyone" is looking for wilderness - 
or wildness - or even fresh air.

None of us are required to "understand" that.  But if we don't recognize it, 
then it'll come back to bite us in the future.  This article appeared 
several months ago in the Washington Post -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dynpagename=article&node=&contentId=A58250-2002Feb23

Make sure you cut and paste all of it (both lines) or it won't work.  The 
County Executive in question is black, Democrat and VERY liberal.  And he 
has NO understanding whatever of the value of wilderness - or as some put it 
- "wildness".  A suggestion that he should spend time in the woods, much 
less in the dark, would draw shock, anger and derisive laughter.  Not 
everyone feels the need to "be the best they can be."  Particularly when (in 
their estimation) it puts them at risk.

That article is a "peek through the keyhole" at one possible future for this 
country.  For some of us there are innumerable lessons to be learned from 
it.


>Having lived in both worlds, I personally find that each has its benefits 
>and its drawbacks, and that when I am in one I desire the other in some 
>way.

Yep - you're thruhiker material.

To revert to an earlier post by Anna - who said -
>My major goal for my thru hike is to be the kind of person that is not only 
>AS comfortable out of doors as in, but actually MORE comfortable.  When you 
>read stories of people that finish long hikes, go home, and find that they 
>can't sleep in a bed..........they have to get up and sleep on the 
>floor.......that kind of physical cross over is what I want to experience.  
>Does that make any sense?

Having lived in both worlds, I have a preference for one and a necessity for 
dwelling in the other so I can get back to the first one.  What that means 
is that regardless of how much you want the "wild" life - financial, 
medical, family or other considerations will eventually mandate your return 
to what's euphemistically called "civilization".  Becoming so "wild" that 
you can't function in the "civilized" world is NOT a good thing - been 
there, done that and have the scars to show for it.  When we came back from 
the CDT, I was not capable of holding a job or even functioning with more 
than 2 people in the same room.  The Ruck was a real head trip for me. So I 
became a hermit for 4 months - and then went back on the trail - in part to 
get "re-socialized".  Even now, 2 years later, there are days when I have to 
walk outside and tell myself "I CAN do this".  It doesn't always work.

The other thing you might want to consider is this - if you're looking for 
it, you probably won't find it.  An analogy - have you noticed that when 
your friends are  "lookin' for love", they don't find it?  But that when 
they stop looking - they do.  There are reasons for that - and they apply 
here.  There are millions, possibly billions of people who spend their lives 
looking for "peace" or satori or "enlightenment" of one sort or another. And 
that's exactly what we're talking about here, just in a different context. 
Few - VERY few find it, in large part because they're spending their lives 
looking for it rather than living their lives.  None of us have or ever will 
find it hiding under a rock along the trail - we find it only within 
ourselves.  And we can only find it when we've "lived" enough to have 
developed it. Most people never "live" enough to get to that point.  Neither 
youth nor longevity nor wilderness necessarily impart either wisdom or 
peace.

To paraphrase the Thruhiking Papers - most of us thruhike because we're 
looking for something.  But what we usually find is what we need  rather 
than what we're looking for.

And now I'm rambling.


>When in the city, I start to have a longing for the wilds.  When in the 
>wilds, I start to have a longing for a cheese burger and some fries...

As I said, Shane - thruhiker material.

>Eventually, though, some people become dead to these desires.  We all know 
>somebody who wouldn't be caught dead in the woods.  There are also a few 
>people who have given up on city life entirely and >have 'gone native'.

Which brings us back to congruence.

Walk softly,
Jim

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