[at-l] right before your thru

[Sloetoe]

--- Rich kook <rich4hike at yahoo.com> wrote:

> anybody else get really nervous right before their
> thru-hike?  I know anxious, I know excited, but
> nervous like its my wedding day.  
> I'm prepared, but I guess it's just mentally
> shocking that I'm about to quit my job
> Rich

### Rich, what you are feeling is the last vestiges of
the false skins that "civilization" has painted on
you; they are beginning to crack and peel off (of
necessity!) and you're insecure about whether and how
you can survive without that protective layer. You are
ignorant of what your "true [non-civilization] self"
is made of, and do not yet perceive fully both your
own strengths *and* also how trivial some of those
now-frightening "weaknesses" are. Fear not, for in a
month, what you may "lack" in civilized armor as far
as job or house or car will fade to inconsequential,
while your biggest concern will be to make it to a
leanto/water source with enough light and energy to
make dinner. A month after that, it will simply be the
water source. And when you can arrive in town, head to
the place to eat, and worry not about whether you are
properly combed, properly dressed, properly
bathed..... you'll feel your priorities are right on
target, your connection to "the real world" *quite*
solid, and your ability to deal with what comes up in
life strong and assured. With some luck, *that* armor
can last a lifetime.

Spatior! Nitor! Nitor! Tempero!
   Pro Pondera Et Meliora.