kungfusailer is living the dream!
I have wanted to do this since college, where I was introduced to the writings of Tom Brown Jr., and the teachings of Jon Young, one of Brown’s long-time students. It has recently resurfaced as an intense desire in the last eight months or so, as I’ve read and reread some classics such as Robinson Crusoe, Treasure Island, and Lord of the Flies. TV has helped reignite the flame too with shows like ABC’s LOST and Discovery Channel’s Man Vs. Wild, both of which I watch whenever I can.
It goes way deeper than books and tv, though. It’s a spiritual quest, one which I barely tasted when I was in Alaska, and to which I now want to return. In nature, man discovers what he is truly made of. Like Chuck Palahniuk wrote in Fight Club, “How can you ever really know yourself if you’ve never been in a fight?” It’s the same concept. To know Nature is to know yourself, for we are part of Nature, part of the Spirit-that-moves-through-all-things.
On a simpler and less esoteric level, I have always loved being in the great outdoors, and my life lately has retreated into an increasingly man-made environment. I am surrounded constantly by steel bulkheads, pipes, wires, and flourescent lighting. When the ship is in port, it’s typically in an industrial area. It’s not that healthy. Taking a wilderness survival course would not only get me out into Nature and refuel my soul, but teach me how to relate better to it, function better in it, thus enhancing my enjoyment of it.
