For most of my life I lived according to other people's rules and expectations. I earned good grades in school, graduated with honors, married, raised a family, divorced (even that, seemingly, was expected, or at least accepted by society), worked forty hours a week, and complained about my lot in life. I lived on automatic, assuming that if most people lived this way, it must be the best way - the easiest way, or the safest way, or, most probably, the only way available to me - and if I just worked at it hard enough and long enough, I'd be rewarded with all the riches and happiness I desired.
Finally, in my late thirties - way back at the end of the last century - I had to admit that the mainstream way of life wasn't working for me. I wasn't amassing riches, and I wasn't happy. But I had unconsciously lived myself into a rut, and I wasn't sure how to escape or what to do if I did. I read lots of self-help books. I learned seven habits, but.... I found out what color my parachute was, but.... I was assured I didn't have to choose just one thing to do, but.... I had all kinds of excuses. I was paralyzed by fear. But if something isn't working, why put energy into doing more of it? There had to be more to life; I had to pick something different and just do it.
What I decided to do was visible enough to keep me from wimping out in disgrace; it was big enough to blow me right out of that rut and into the world; it was strong enough to catch me in its current so there was no going back. I decided to undertake my long-standing dream of backpacking the entire Appalachian Trail. This adventure sparked a new restlessness within me and ignited a new consciousness, burning away old ways of thinking (or not-thinking).
Since hiking the Appalachian Trail, I have remained open to new adventures and interests, confronting old paradigms and discovering ways to create my life on my own terms. It is an on-going process, one that can be exciting and fulfilling, but which demands conscious attention, for the path runs along the edge of the rut, and there is always danger of slipping back in.
I constructed this website to share the accounts of my adventures and interests for your enjoyment and enlightenment, and also to keep my research, notes, and writings in one place for my own easy reference from any computer, anyplace in the world, in the midst of any future adventure. |
