04/27

Songbirds, like alarm bells, rose with the sunrise. I’ve gotten pretty good at identifying them thanks to the Merlin app. Warblers, sparrows, thrushes, orioles, grosbeaks, towhees, parulas, and the ever-noisy ovenbird. There’s no use trying to sleep in out here.

We retrieved our cabled bags with no signs of bear activity and set off on a 9 mile trek. Fairly easy terrain, though my feet were still feeling the last few days. I made sure to take plenty of breaks, roll out my arches, stretch, and gorge on snacks… “lightening the pack” as I like to call it.

Walking along the path we snuck glimpses of the scenery below. Through the trees, mountains floated in a sea of clouds. Our shelter for the night was tucked into a field of tiny white flowers. It felt as if we’d made it to Oz.

Getting to camp early gave me some time to myself. Sitting on a mossy boulder, I took a few breaths, and tried to zoom out. To look at where I am and what I’m doing. Presently aware.

I came out here for something, though what exactly, I’m not sure. Adventure, meaning, hidden treasure. Maybe I just want to live a life that feels like mine. I’ve never seen the point in playing someone else’s game. A mild aversion to authority, I march to my the beat of my own drum. Always have. Even as a kid I gave my parents hell, especially in school. A little “too smart for my own good”, I refused to do anything I deemed a waste of time.

Begs the question: what is worth my time?

We’re taught that to live a happy life, you must be “successful”. Success, at least in this context, is more of a checklist. School, career, money, property, etc. Without these things, you’re failing. Somehow lesser than. Just another drifter, doomed to live in a box and beg for change.

Well, here I am. Unemployed. Not a penny to my name. Living in the woods and begging for toilet paper. Yet, I’m happy. My life is full of happiness. None of it tied to famed “success”. Sure I’ve won the lottery a couple times, but I think of that more like good karma.

People say “life’s too short,” but I think that cliche gets used most by those who waited too long to start living. You can play the game laid out before you, spending your days chasing a carrot on a stick. Or you can get up from the table. Play something other than monopoly, and be better for it. Once you get past the skeptics and well meaning objectors, you’ll forget the carrot ever existed. Besides, there’s plenty else to eat.