[at-l] Arguably the Most Important Gear

[datto at charter.net (Datto)]

Also, there is something else...you could call it "mind 
discipline/undiscipline" where a thru-hiker's mind begins 
to become less affected by negativity coming from the 
external environment. The aperture begins to open for 
many. And for some, they begin to accept how things are 
rather than always fighting against what is. Many begin to 
have such an appreciation of how say, colors become so 
vivid after a rainstorm, how the smells change as one 
approaches a ridge, how an entire orchastra of sounds 
occurs when the wind whips through treetops.

Every hear of anyone talk about those things when they're 
racing to work in the morning?

What someone says to you, how you react, the weather while 
you're hiking, the steepness of the Trail, someone talking 
about the Rush Limbaugh show they were listening to on the 
radio...those kinds of things begin to have a decreasing 
imposition on your mental state as your thru-hike 
progresses. Senses become much more acute for many.

This is one of the greatest pleasures from a thru-hike.

If any of you have ever tried meditating by counting 
breaths (and know what a challenge it is to ward off all 
the outside stimulation for even a measly 60 seconds to 
keep the counting and focus going), that's a come-about 
experience for some thru-hikers. How focus can be 
sometimes be at an extreme while at the same time, the 
aperture become so wide and the peace so deep.

I think it might also be one of the reasons why some can't 
re-enter society very well after their thru-hike is 
completed. They've seen what can be. Know what it is 
about. A paradox in some ways, of learning to accept what 
is but not wanting to join that what is within society 
afterward.

Well...Ha, at least not right away anyhow. Not until the 
apetite problem gets under control and some table manners 
are re-learned.

Datto