[at-l] ?Disconnection? or ?Connection??

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

I'm not sure this will help anyone - but maybe it doesn't matter, either.  
Unlike many of the "chain letters" that float through the Internet, if you 
don't understand it - probably nothing bad will happen to you.  If you do 
understand it, then good things "might" happen to you.   <g>
Walk softly,
Jim


Recently there was some discussion on at-l about mental/emotional 
?disconnection? with respect to hiking the Trail. And there?s apparently a 
large degree of confusion about it.  So let?s see if we can throw some light 
on the subject.

But first let?s change the terminology - I consider the word ?disconnection? 
to be a negative and inaccurate way of looking at the world.  My word would 
be ?connection? rather than ?disconnection.?  One might think there?s a 
relationship between ?connection? and ?disconnection? ? and that?s very 
often true.  But not in this context.

In the recent at-l discussion, the ?disconnection? was assumed to be a 
mental/emotional disconnection FROM the world of jobs, autos, bills, houses, 
and family ? FROM ?civilization?.  But that kind of ?disconnection? isn't 
actually possible ? which is one of the things that caused so much 
confusion.  At some level one ALWAYS remains ?connected? to ?civilization.?  
Even if they?re a thruhiker - even if only when they go into town to 
re-supply, even if only by what they carry in their pack.

But as human beings, we?re also always connected to the world of nature - 
the mountains, flowers and trees, wind and rain, sunshine and snow and 
butterflies.  Even those who live their entire lives in cities find pleasure 
in the natural world - growing flowers in window boxes ? or feeding the 
squirrels and pigeons ? or enjoying roof gardens - or walking in city parks. 
  And so they, too, are connected to ?nature?.   In the extreme case, ones 
connection to ?nature? is more intense, becoming the ?right now, right here, 
present moment experience? that?s experienced by many of those who thruhike 
or spend long periods of time outdoors.  It?s possible to experience that 
intensity without spending months on the Trail - but it?s extremely rare ? 
and requires disciplines that few people are willing to learn or practice.

So you?re always connected to both ?worlds? ? ?civilization? and ?nature?.  
It?s not a binary ?one-or-the-other-but-not-both? connection/disconnection.  
Rather, it?s a question of ? to what degree are you ?connected? to each 
?world??

I picture life as a line, with one end being the natural world (nature) ? 
and other being the world of computers and automobiles and paychecks and 
family (civilization). As humans, we?re all suspended somewhere on that 
line.  And our position on that line (how close we are to one end or the 
other) varies ? with time, mood, activity, attitude, necessity and probably 
1000 other factors.  Most people live their lives crowded up against the 
?civilization? side of the line.  But even there they still retain some 
vestigal connection to the natural world.

                   Your        You
              Mother-in-law  (Joe Hiker)
Civilization -------|----------|--------------------------------------- 
Nature


In our case (meaning those who are hikers), we live a little closer to the 
?nature? end of the line.  But even here on at-l there are variations and 
some of us are closer to ?nature? than others.  There are a few hikers (like 
Earl Shaffer) who live their lives far over on the ?nature? side of the 
line.    But even Earl owned a house and a car, kept goats and a garden and 
made some money at the York flea market.  So he, too, was connected to both 
?civilization? and ?nature.?

At any given time, the greater one?s connection to civilization, the less 
one is connected to nature.  Conversely ? the stronger one?s connection to 
the natural world the less one is connected to civilization.  It?s an 
inverse relationship.  And for any given individual, it?s a constantly 
changing relationship.

For example, I?m sometimes more absorbed in the technical world that 
provides a paycheck ? and therefore closer to the ?civilization? end.  And 
at other times, I?ll be more absorbed in the mountains and the hike and I?ll 
be closer to the ?nature? end.  But I?m ALWAYS connected to both worlds.  
And so are you.

For a dayhiker, driving to the trailhead is an exercise in ?civilization? ? 
and that?s where their mind will be at the beginning of the hike.  After a 
few miles of hiking, ?civilization? begins to fade, we forget our problems 
and stresses - and we begin to pay more attention to the world around us.  
We listen to the birds, watch the deer (and sometimes the bears), play with 
the rattlesnakes (well, some of us do) ? and our minds drift more toward the 
?nature? side of the line.  When we return to the car, we?re snapped back 
toward ?civilization? ? but not as far back as when we started.  There?s a 
hysteresis effect that will keep us just a little more relaxed and happy ? 
more mellow ? than when we started the hike. That effect is temporary and in 
a day or two, we?ll drift back to our ?normal? stressful everyday position 
on the line.  If you don?t know what ?hysteresis? means, look it up ? it?ll 
be good for you to remember what a dictionary is for.

                            Dan Dayhiker
      beginning of hike   end of dayhike
Civilization -------|------|------------------------------------------- 
Nature

For a weekend backpacker, the same effect will occur ? except that the shift 
toward ?nature? will be greater due to the longer time period involved.  And 
the hysteresis effect will last longer - maybe as long as week or more.  Two 
or three days on-trail allows time for a greater mental shift ? and for the 
shift toward nature to become more entrenched and the recovery prolonged.

                                 Barry Backpacker
           beginning of hike   end of hike
Civilization -------|-------------|------------------------------------- 
Nature


And then there?s the thruhiker (or long distance hiker) who?s on the trail 
for a month or two - or six.  Here, the length of time on-trail allows a 
major shift toward the ?nature? side of the line and provides sufficient 
time for that shift to ?harden? and provide changes in the hikers entire 
outlook and attitude.  The extent of those changes will vary with the hiker 
? a few hikers will experience very little, if any, change.  Most will 
experience changes that will last for weeks or months and sometimes for 
years after the end of the hike.  And a few will experience major 
personality shifts that will last for a lifetime. On average, thruhikers 
will retain a permanent shift toward ?nature? that will vary with the 
individual and with time.

The extent of those changes will also vary with the hiker?s habits and 
experiences.  Those who choose to ?party hearty? at every town - or if they 
call their girlfriend (and everyone else they know at every opportunity) may 
have a really good time and a great hike ? and miss out on the connection 
with ?nature? that they wanted when they started the Trail. But that?s the 
result of the choices they make.  And in some cases, that ?nature? 
connection is not part of their reason for being on the Trail in the first 
place.  HYOH

              Theresa Thruhiker (avoids ?civilization? as much as possible)
                      beginning of hike                                  end 
of hike
Civilization -------|------------------------------------------|-------- 
Nature


The basic concept is simple, but then there are a few complicating factors ?

1. Every town visit, every phone call home, every resupply stop, even 
crossing a road or hitchhiking into town ? shifts the hiker?s mental state 
back toward ?civilization? ? and afterward, it takes some finite time 
on-trail to recover the level of connection to ?nature? that was lost by 
that contact with ?civilization?.  Overall, the more contact with 
civilization, the more ?civilization? events, the shallower the 
thruhiker/long distance hiker?s connection to ?nature? will be at the end of 
their hike.  That mental shift back to ?civilization? can, in fact, end a 
hike. A lot of hikers go home for a wedding or graduation ? and not all of 
them come back to the trail.  A lot of thruhikers quit the Trail because 
their phone calls home discourage rather than encourage them.  Or simply 
because they get homesick and ?need? to see their girlfriend.

         Tommy Thruhiker (parties hearty and spends many days in town)
                      beginning of hike                                  end 
of hike
Civilization -------|--------------------------|------------------------- 
Nature


2.  The longer one is on-trail, the deeper the ?nature? connection will 
become.  If the hiker is on-trail for a long time with few ?civilization? 
distractions, the connection to ?nature? can become extremely strong.  If 
every day brings new contacts with ?civilization? then the ?nature? 
connection will be weaker.

3. If the connection to ?nature? is strong enough, it can be really 
difficult to re-establish a workable connection with civilization at the end 
of a hike.  Eventually, a closer connection to civilization is necessary - 
very few people live ?on-Trail? all the time.  Most of us have to go home 
sometime.  For some people, the very prospect of not ?fitting in? when they 
go home is enough to keep them from even attempting a thruhike.

4. A really strong connection to nature can, in many cases, induce change ? 
personal mental, physical, emotional and/or psychological change. There are 
those for whom ?change? is a terrible, fear-filled prospect.  These people 
generally have no desire to thruhike in the first place.  But some of them 
will happily choose to section-hike the Trail.  That way they can have the 
Trail without what they consider to be negative side-effects. Anyone who 
wants my views on change can find them in the Thruhiking Papers: 
http://www.spiriteaglehome.com/THP%20change.html

5. A strong connection to nature is addictive for some of us.  ?Wild? is not 
an unattractive state of mind for ?everybody.? For others it?s too fearsome 
to contemplate.  And they see no reason to risk becoming so.

One of the reasons some thruhikers quit the Trail is that they find 
themselves moving too far toward the ?nature? side for comfort ? and/or 
finding themselves changing in ways they didn?t anticipate, don?t want to 
deal with and/or are afraid of.  Some people never even start the trail 
because they learn about the possibility of that kind of change.

There are also those who are happy with their lives as they are and feel no 
need to pursue change.
Long ago, a young man told me he was happy and settled, but still wanted to 
do a thruhike.  And I told him that happy, settled people don?t do thruhikes 
? they stay home and buy houses and make babies and work at jobs they love 
(or hate) and just generally do ?normal? things with their lives.  Some of 
those people may someday do a thruhike ? but it?s not likely unless 
something changes drastically in their life.  For most people, a thruhike is 
too uncomfortable ? physically, mentally and/or emotionally.  That?s good ? 
it keeps the Trail from becoming too crowded.

Conversely ? there are those who seek change, adventure, personal growth or 
a closer connection with nature. And there are those who ?NEED? change. ATC 
sells a book titled ?Katahdin with Love? that I completely failed to 
understand before my first thruhike.  It was written by a couple who NEEDED 
the healing power of the Trail and the connection to nature that it gave 
them so they could deal with the death of their son.

Personally, I?ve spent my life learning - and seeking personal and 
professional growth - and constantly changing.  So when it came time for my 
thruhike, it wasn?t ?just a hike?, it wasn?t just an ?adventure? ? it was a 
?need? that was overwhelming, it was an opportunity to learn and grow in a 
different direction.  And it was an experience that provided a connection so 
close to ?nature? that when I finished, I was little less ?wild? than the 
deer and bear and moose that I encountered along the trail. For me, it was a 
learning and healing time.   For others, it might be a nightmare.

There ARE circumstances that will produce real ?disconnection? from both 
?civilization? and ?nature.?  Combat is one of them.  But that 
?disconnection? has no relation to either hiking or the Trail. And the Trail 
is one of the most effective ways I know to reconnect with both 
?civilization?  and ?nature.?

Today there are soldiers in Iraq who look forward to getting back here so 
they can walk the AT.  They understand the healing power of the Trail and 
the connection with nature, even if not in the terms I use.  And they 
understand that it?ll take something extraordinary in order to reclaim their 
lives.  I think it might be a good idea to welcome them when they get here.



http://www.spiriteaglehome.com/