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[at-l] living on the trail, or LIVING ON THE TRAIL -- Part II
What is no caps =93living?=94 It is the part of our lives spent in the r=
outine,=0Aordinary, mundane aspects of eating, sleeping, working, doing c=
hores, etc. On=0Athe trail, this translates into eating, sleeping, walki=
ng and doing chores.
What, on the other hand, is all caps =93LIVING.=94 For me, Thoreau said =
it best:
=93I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front on=
ly the=0Aessential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it ha=
d to teach,=0Aand not, when it came time to die, discover that I had not =
lived. ... I wanted=0Ato live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, =
to live so sturdily and=0ASpartan-like as to put rout all that was not li=
fe, to cut a broad swath and=0Ashave close, to drive life into a corner, =
and reduce it to its lowest terms,=0Aand, if it proved to be mean, why th=
en to get the whole and genuine meanness=0Aof it, and publish its meannes=
s to the world; or if it were sublime, to know=0Ait by experience, and be=
able to give a true account of it in my next=0Aexcursion.=94
Wingfoot=92s =93Touchstone=94 story was about =93LIVING.=94 Anything we =
hikers do out=0Athere on the Trail that examines our relationship to Natu=
re in an attempt to=0Afind meaning or purpose is =93LIVING.=94 Bill Irwi=
n, the blind thru-hiker was=0A=93LIVING LARGE=94 when he journeyed on the=
AT. I=92m not sure if Felix ever plans=0Ato thru-hike, but he sure seem=
s to know about =93LIVING=94 and I would love to be=0Aamused and inspired=
by the creative thoughts that would flow after he spent=0Asix months in =
the woods. Rhymin=92 Worm writes inspiring poetry and prose that=0Ashows=
me he has =93LIVED.=94
In the online trail journals and on these mailing lists there is a lot ab=
out=0A=93living=94 on the trail (about 99%), but only a little about =93L=
IVING=94 on the=0Atrail. When the subject turns to =93LIVING=94 those co=
ntent to hear only about=0A=93living=94 shout down with pat phrases like =
=93Hike your own hike=94 or =93Don=92t talk=0Ato ME about purity.=94
I guess it all comes back to the Muir journal from Part I of this essay, =
Was=0AJohn Muir better equipped to tell of his moving inspiration at the =
sight of=0AYosemite, or are we better off being content with the less thr=
eatening non-=0Ainspiration of shepherd Billy? It=92s much more comforta=
ble that way. =93Hike=0Ayour own hike -- Wingfoot=92s no better than the=
rest of us.=94
It is ironic that John Muir lost one eye in an industrial accident a year=
=0Abefore =93SEEING=94 the High Sierras. Yet he possessed an inner visio=
n that made=0Athe shepherd with two eyes blind by comparison. Are we con=
tent to use only=0Aour outer vision to =93see=94 shallow reality or will =
we =93SEE=94 the grand visions=0Athat await us on the Appalachian Trail i=
f we only open our pure inner selves=0Ato them? It is a choice and oppor=
tunity available to each one of us.=0AWingfoot speaks with the authority =
of experience and wisdom, if only we will=0A=93LISTEN.=94
Happy trails,
Solar Bear
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