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

[rafe.bustin@verizon.net (Raphael Bustin)]

At 08:46 PM 6/5/2002 -0400, you wrote:

>At 11:05 PM 06/04/2002 -0400, Raphael Bustin wrote:
>>At 08:49 PM 6/4/2002 -0400, sAunTerer wrote:
>>
>> > The thing to realize though is that what you are looking for isn't
>> > out in the woods either.  It's just that the woods are a lot quieter
>> > and thus offer a conducive environment find it where it really is, in 
>> yourself.
>>
>>Well, you know I've heard this thought expressed before, but have
>>mixed feelings about it.  I think of myself as pretty worldly, reasonably
>>well-read, well-traveled, etc.  But I can and do get bored in the woods
>>after a while, especially if I haven't had a view of distant hills for a 
>>while.
>>
>>There's only so much reflection and introspection I can tolerate --
>
>Rafe, you're not alone and that's okay.  And... not everyone goes to the 
>woods for introspection.  That's okay too.  There are some people though 
>who go looking for answers to questions when they are not really sure what 
>the questions are.  They are just unhappy with the way things are.  If 
>they have enough time away from their ordinary life whether on a long hike 
>or sitting on the beach or whatever, they have a better chance of seeing 
>what wrong and then figuring out how to make it right.


The notion of a sabbath -- a formal cessation of work, for the purpose
of reflection, recreation, introspection, etc. -- is one that I am entirely
in favor of.  Not really in a religious sense, mind you.  And not really
as in "vacation," either. (As in Disneyworld, or London or Paris.)  And
certainly not as in, "let's spend the day at the mall."

I think a crucial part of this thing is "slowness" -- a deliberate slowing
of the pace of life, and a deliberate relinquishing of the comforts of
technology --speaking for myself, anyway.  I think lots of us who spend
our lives immersed in technology also long for simplicity, and the
backcountry offers that.  It's not a universal thing, by any means --
most of the folks at my small company know nothing about hiking,
yet they are mostly young, physically fit, intelligent, and economically
at ease.

Thinking about a problem isn't always the best way to solve it.  Mind
you, it's a worthy part of any problem-solving process.  But if your problem
is loneliness, for example, then merely thinking about it isn't going to
help much.  Surely you've heard of "the paralysis of analysis."

No doubt that lots of folks hike the AT following personal traumas,
or major life-changes.  That was certainly true of my hike in 1990,
and several others I met on the trail.  Still and all -- I'm not sure how
much I learned from my sixty days on the trail, nor that I left the
trail "a better man" for it.  Oh, I took some great memories with me,
for sure.  But my life in the real world after the hike wasn't all that
different from life before it...


rafe b.
aka terrapin