[pct-l] Tethers to the other world...

[Cat Nelson]

I didn't read this as selfish. I read it as being aware of self and
understanding the transition from being in "community" and going into
"alone". And being clear about boundaries and self.
 On Oct 13, 2012 7:10 PM, "Ed Jarrett" <edjarrett at msn.com> wrote:

>
> That all sounds good.  But I love my wife too much to be that selfish.
>
> Ed Jarretthttp://aclayjar.blogspot.com/
>
> > Date: Sat, 13 Oct 2012 20:04:19 -0600
> > From: jolson at olc.edu
> > CC: pct-l at backcountry.net
> > Subject: [pct-l] Tethers to the other world...
> >
> > 17 years ago when the listserv started there was no discussion about how
> > to communicate with the "other world" while on the trail.
> >
> > The trail has its own reality.  It now takes me just a couple weeks to
> > shift from being social to being single.  That's what it is for me.
> > Suddenly, in the first hour, I'm alone, and I can project forward and
> > know I'm going to be alone for three weeks, six weeks, a couple months
> > or five months...   Five or six hikes of 10 days to seven weeks - I know
> > this in the first moments.
> >
> > There is a couple minutes of elation being away from the car and walking
> > away from it all.  Then there's the first glance into space across the
> > canyon to the granite spires beyond.
> >
> > Increasingly the larger spaces come to be THE environment.  You can hide
> > in a copse of trees or make sure you camp at 8000'.  Naps in the
> > afternoon shade chase the bigness away.
> >
> > Day after day you open up on big spaces.  Increasingly these big spaces
> > are internal.  When you cross the head of a drainage and cross the
> > springs that eventually become the Colorado or Green or San Joaquin, you
> > check in.  The long gaze down the basin across the flattening forest is
> > there every time you look.  The "tether" to the "other world" is
> thinning.
> >
> > You feel an increasing sense of competence, and this competence is based
> > in choices you make moment to moment as you walk along the trail.  Week
> > after week you find yourself tested and your choices bear good outcomes.
> >
> > You abandon gear or trade for or buy more minimalist gear.  Your body
> > hardens and while you can walk 25 miles a day, you can no longer jump
> > vertically more than a couple inches.  If you don't watch it, that lasts
> > a long time.
> >
> > Each moment of each day surrounds us as we walk.  The presence of one
> > foot in front of the other opens up new vistas in the big spaces.
> > Emotions tarnish and churl.  Not enough water, or food, or sleep - all
> > are part of the blossoming, unfolding, magnetic call of what's ahead.
> >
> > If you can let go of the tethers - others needs to feel you're safe -
> > and just leave - just head out!!!  Sure you love you Mom and girlfriend
> > or boyfriend, and maybe your dad...
> >
> > Just head out.  If you die - well, you die.  That's part of untying the
> > knots that are other's worlds wanting to control our own!  You learn to
> > trust yourself, your ability to make good decisions in the moment,
> > whether from ethics, or evaluation of personal safety.
> >
> > I think we're in an historical era that doesn't want us to carve our own
> > lives.  The opportunities that exist for us in the world of work are
> > pretty dull and mundane and predictable.  Whether straight or gay -
> > marriage is important to others.  The tethers hold us back, are visible
> > in the emotions - in the fear of stepping away from the comfortable and
> > known.
> >
> > Can you imagine just hitching to Campo, or Horseshoe Meadows, or Hwy 50
> > or White Pass and heading out - feeling, but not knowing you'll not only
> > survive but thrive?
> >
> > Hiking a long trail enables one to step out of one life into another
> > over the course of a day or two.  Suddenly, you're on the trail.
> >
> > No one knows when you're going to be anywhere when.  You told them you
> > would contact them at your convenience, and their worry was no business
> > of yours.  You are stepping into a new reality, from one, into another,
> > from the past into a future you've crafted in your planning.  The
> > pleadings of loved ones that they'll worry about you distance themselves
> > into echos that slowly diminish and disappear. You're on the trail!!!
> >
> > You fully understand the risks involved and trust in your ability to
> > learn quickly enough how to make good decisions, to use experience to
> > deepen wisdom.  You can say this to your folks or loved ones, and to
> > yourself.  All feel a bit, or a lot, of uncertainty.  Especially Moms...
> >
> > The bottom line is a person literally steps from one life into another.
> > There just aren't many opportunities like this in modern living.  You
> > can maintain contact with the "other world" if you want, but why would
> > you???
> >
> > Jeffrey Olson
> > Rapid City, SD
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
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