“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.
”
Let's just get this out of the way to start, on the 8th day I didn't write. I packed. Then i woke up early, met a guy to talk for a bit and then hit the road. I haven't written for this since then. That was more than a week ago. That feels better already
Last year, my brother and i hiked a 24-ish mile loop around Three Fingered Jack in the Mt. Jefferson Wilderness. We took a clockwise loop, this year we took it counter-clockwise. Last year it rained, this year it rained.
I did some things differently this year.
I only took one book with me this year, the smallest, lightest one i have - Ralph Waldo Emerson's Nature. And while we didn't have too much down time to read, I did for a bit.
I had a significantly better skill set & safety skill set knowledge to carry with me. The lightest survival gear you can carry is knowledge, an instructor said lately. I wasn't too concerned with 'what if's' this trip. I was comfortable with the route, wasn't too concerned about food, water, animals. About the only concern I had was for injury & falling trees, of which we heard a couple during one of the nights that included heavy rains and winds. Add that to a recovering forest from the 2003 B&B complex and not too surprising, but nonetheless not so comforting when you're laying in a tent.
Last year I ate meat, this year I didn't...but that's another story for another day. We'll get into that one of these days. I love this guy, and I'm so blessed for every second we get to spend together.
Since I got home, the schedule's been too full (a trend I'm becoming ever-too-aware-of these days) and I've not made the time to write. I should have. I've felt shame about it. I've wanted to do it, but by the time I get home and with how early I get up I don't always feel like staring into a screen.
I'm working on it, to get the schedule open. To write more frequently. I usually get up early - anywhere between 4 and 5 am. But I've come to realize that I need more regularity and routine to build a foundation for the day upon.
I've just ordered Hal Elrod's Miracle Morning: The Not-So-Obvious Guaranteed to Transform Your Life (before 8AM) and look forward to giving the process a shot. A committed shot. for 30 days, at least. And hopefully it goes better than this 31-day writing thing. Fail.
But that's OK, because as I failed I learned. And as I learned, I began to accept imperfectiveness. And as I learn, I grow and that's really the whole point of all of this.
Peace. Love.
