This vacation I began reading the book Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer. Quick Synopsis: "In April 1992 a young man from a well-to-do family hitchhiked to Alaska and walked alone into the wilderness north of Mt. McKinley. His name was Christopher Johnson McCandless. He had given $25,000, in savings to charity, abandoned his car and most of his possessions, burned all the cash in his wallet, and invented a new life for himself. Four months later, his decomposed body was found by a moose hunter..."
You may have seen the movie but the book reads much differently. Instead of focusing on Chris's adventure's tramping around America and highlighting the beauty he witnessed along the way the book is more of a discovery to find out who this young man was that would drop everything and anyone in search of some sort of transcendental experience in the "wild".
I began to Journal about what it is about the connection between man and the wilderness thats seems to span time.
This is what came out:
What is it about nature and the wilderness that calls and lures men? Lures me? Nature seems to be seen as a place to heal, meet some primordial need for adventure, and most importantly it seems to be a place we search to complete the void that haunts our lives. We are restless because we demand to live the way we were created to live, we are restless because living the way we were created to live is a mystery to most. Those that claim to possess the truth either parade around in a demeaning and demanding manor, confused by the hierarchal interpretation they have been fed through. On the other pole is those you may actually obtain the truth but have grown complacent and comfortable without sharing or truly tasting a life of risk, adventure, danger, happiness, and true fulfillment. This in mind, with no where to look in society, we take to the wild. Maybe because what we long for is ultimately to know the creator and nature provides the last unadultured view of the creator's face.
Hi David,
ReplyDeleteYour words really really inspired me. However what I had said in relation to this FANTASTIC article was lost due to:
1. Critically, this comment box does NOT allow copy & paste. What I had written, I had copied (or so I thought) and then subsequently lost due to:
2. The select profile option. I'd never come across this before, and whilst selecting the wrong one, everything I'd written was just lost to the nethersphere....
So, for what it's worth, and the time I've spent on this (which is already nearly an hour), AND the fact that I hold you in the highest regard for the content of your journalling and the beautiful way you did it, could you please email me...
hmellerick@gmail.com
I'd love to just let you know my thoughts on your words here. They are absolutley fantastic.
WOW!! I'm actually starting a blog on my trip to see the bus. For all its worth, your journal entry almost completely encompasses why I'm going
ReplyDeleteWow. I just finished watching the movie about 10 minutes ago. I was completely astonished at what I had watched and it became my favorite movie immediately because of the simple truth it spelled out. So...I just finished watching it, and I came online to check it out even further, and I love the way you wrote what you did. It really describes society today, and thanks to you, I'm going to read the book maybe as soon as tomorrow!!! THANK YOU!!!
ReplyDelete-Anna Shay
Wow, this is great. Your writing seems perfect, and so simple...It answers the very question I have been asking myself for years.
ReplyDeleteInto The Wild. I am almost obsessed with this story. When I watched the movie, I didn't eat for days. When I read the book, I felt within me a wanderlust awaken and catch fire. Your words are magnetic and inspiring.
ReplyDeleteNature is a magnificent, unyielding, divine weave that we cannot, no matter how hard we try, recreate. We cannot prevent it from taking it's course. Those who realize what a powerful force it is are drawn to it, as it is something to be admired. There is an infinite amount of lessons nature can teach us, whereas people have, for the most part, limited themselves to teaching only certain things.
I'm not being very coherent. This was my (unfiltered) train of thought after reading your post.
Anyway, thank you.
Your words have truly inspired me.
ReplyDeleteit is true, we do hunger for something that we cant find in the world we normally live in...society.
society is a poison to us because it takes away all the beauty we seek, all the adventure we crave. Christopher Mccandless was a great man, he saw things we dream of seeing, we saw the world like no other. some day I to dream of seeing it, but to dream is one thing and to live it and do it is the truth we must all come to take in hand or backdown.