Trail Therapy March 9, 2012

While perusing through some random current affairs articles the other morning, I stumbled upon a story that truly warmed my heart. As I have mentioned before, I am a huge fan of the story of Christopher McCandless. I am also a lover of Thoreau, and their paralleling perspectives of one’s relation with society.

 

Well; it looks like I’ve discovered yet another collection of genius out there.  A man who took the horrors of life and mutated them enough to become a gift he has spent each day sharing for the past decade and a half. Meet Steve Fugate. After the suicide of his only son and the soon after death of his daughter, he started walking. And he hasn’t stopped since. Now, in my mind I can’t help but to picture a good ol’ Forrest Gump- escue character, running from coast to coast with a foot and a half of straggly beard clinging to his chin. 

 

But, unlike Gump, this man has a purpose in his journey. A hell of a purpose, if you ask me. He took a piece of cardboard, wrote “LOVE LIFE!” on it, taped it above his head and hiked, step by step, across the country (and back again) to share his message. Those two simple words hit me hard while reading his accounts of his travels. This guy, who has every reason to hate life, cannot help but feel overjoyed with it. It’s amazing, really. He left his career, his house, his belongings, everything, in the hopes of convincing someone else to love their life as well.

 

 

“In solitude while dealing with the pain, I found something. Something I cannot teach anyone else to find. Something that came from somewhere inside me, definitely an inside job. That something is peace of mind. I sometimes falter momentarily, but I continue moving toward an inner peace. The strength I have found there is unequaled to any other sense of contentment I have ever known.”

 

 

This, my friends, is what it’s all about. It’s not about the off-the-wall story of the guy who took off to die in a bus. Or of the man who built a little shack on a secluded pond to live off the land by himself for years. Or the parent who made himself homeless to hike away his grief. It’s about so much more than that. It’s about that burning need, that ache in your soul that tells you you need to get out of the rat race. Telling you that there is so much more to learn, to feel, to experience….outside the confines of society. Among the wildness of nature, the unmolested elements of our environment.

 

 

As it’s said best….”Wilderness is the preservation of the world,” Thoreau.

 

 

 

Follow Fugate at http://www.trailtherapy.org

Life so Sweet February 20, 2012

Emily Dickinson is one of my all-time favorite female authors, one of the first I turn to when looking to soak up a few well-written words of wisdom, or pass the time with a few chapters of entertaining poetry. A quote of hers came back to me today, and has had me stewing for hours.

 

“That it will never come again is what makes life so sweet.”

 

Not that this is some off-the-wall epiphany of a statement, but rather because it came from her. If you’re at all familiar with Miss Dickinson, you’ll know that she wasn’t a “take life by the horns” kind of gal. She was a timid introvert of a person, eventually becoming so closed off from the world that she refused to answer the door to her family’s home or rarely manage to even leave her bedroom. Yet, so many of her poems centered around the theme of living life to its fullest and exploring the potential of the individual.

 

Perhaps she was writing about what she wished her life could be? Maybe she was flogged with anxiety or depression and couldn’t tolerate being a part of the outside world, and her writings served as her outlet for expression? Or possibly, as I would hope it to be, she had discovered a rooted level of contentment in her simplistic life, and she was, in fact, experiencing it to its fullest. This poses the question: do we need adventure, experiences, and social endeavors to be fully “living”, or is the path to enlightenment actually found through one’s mental process…requiring little from the world around us?

 

I choose to believe (and yes, it is a choice, as I can merely lend myself to observations) that Dickinson was living her life as well-rounded as she could manage, and to her, this was enough. This quote truly brings out the core of importance…life only comes around once. Just once. Just as a bowl of sweets isn’t nearly as enjoyable as knowing you only have one piece to savor, life is more readily enjoyed if you know it but happens once. Just think, if we knew we got to experience our averaged eighty-year life span a few times over, got a chance to re-do some mistakes, and re-vamp your experiences along the way, there would be little appreciation in the present moment.

 

Even if it is from the locked-up solitude of a bedroom, or out amongst the rest of the world; it is sweet while it lasts. And that, my friends, is not long at all.

Before the Moon Melts February 9, 2012

I stumbled across a gem of a poem today. I’m left intrigued and provoked: my favorite state of mind. Denis McMahon was the mastermind to these wonderful words; an author I’ve never heard of before today, but will undoubtedly be following from this point on. The urgency of life itself is something so profound to me, and continues to grow in importance each and every day. This isn’t a permanent position we hold, we have but a short while to experience this earth and leave a mark, then it’s done. Just like that. There is so much joy to be found in each day, in each life, in each world we all live in. Unfortunately, our innately human minds make it difficult for us to open our eyes and truly see what the world around us has to offer.

 

McMahon hit the nail on the head with this one. This idea of fragility and organic enjoyment of the universe connects with me so deeply in this poem. He’s taken the deepest, most heartfelt thoughts of life and death and put them to work in a simplified, necessary piece. It is the simplistic statement of being that he mentions here, and it is purely beautiful to my mind’s ear.  Enjoy.

.

“My sugargirl angel
dances on the beach in winter

Hiking her skirt
at the air she whispers

Take me you beautiful paddlepop
Before the moon melts”

Amidst Ashes February 8, 2012

Life’s tough. Sometimes not so much, sometimes far too much. Sometimes, we’re just left trying to pick up the pieces and carry on. Remnants of what we used to have, who we used to be, what we thought we knew. Now make no mistake, break-down and re-assembly is purposeful. It teaches us to re-evaluate, and take no meager thing for granted. Why such heavy thoughts? Transition. It’s as simple as that. For one to grow, one must rebuild. Some of our most edifying moments in life are those we thought we would never get out of. Tribulations build character, and storms bring sun. To begin the molding process which will continue until the day we die, we must truly learn how to embrace trials; almost welcome them.

 

Of course, all is more easily said than done. However; we Christians speak of this all the time. Possibly just to make ourselves feel better in times of sadness or despair, perhaps because we really do praise God for our struggles. I’ve quoted verses many times relating to this theme, embracing the comfort the words offer me, but to actually say that I have been joyful and grateful for my times of sorrow? Not so much. It’s an entirely different level of faith to get to this point of trust and peace. God did not take the time to mention over and over again how He will never leave us for nothing. He will be a constant source of comfort and strength. Not sometimes…always. Not maybe…absolutely.

 

Unfortunately we are too conditioned to dealing with earthly relationships with imperfect people. Very different playing field than dealing with a perfect God. Everyone is broken in their own little ways, everyone falls short, and everyone fails. Humanity is such a temporary thing. The promises of man are far from the promises of God. God is always fulfilling his dreams and purposes for us, often right under our noses without us noticing. In Psalm 46 it says, “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.” Ever-present. He’s not going anywhere. I firmly believe that once we fully grasp this idea, we then can appreciate the magnitude of the support system He has put in place for us.

 

This relationship is in fact the only relationship we will ever encounter of its kind. It will never waver or change. We will never turn to God and have Him not be there. This is incredible. But then, I ask myself…why do I continue to turn first towards the people in my life for support, and second to God? To expect the level of comfort from those around us that only God has the ability to offer is insanity. It will surely set us up for disappointment and lead us right back to where we started. So, I now continue the journey to better understand the work the Lord has already done to build this relationship with me, and I can only watch and wait as His blessings unfold through the rain.

Langston Hughes: When Rhythm and Words Collide February 5, 2012

With February being Black History Month, I will be featuring various African-American authors throughout the next few weeks in order to help preserve the lasting effects these minds have had on modern literature. If someone were to come to me and ask who I believe to be the most influential African-American author, two names immediately jump to mind: Maya Angelou and Langston Hughes. Now it is impossible to pick just one, as the gender segregation was so severe throughout the early-mid 1900’s (especially within minority groups) that a female and male author, in my opinion, cannot even be compared. In correlation with their life experiences, Angelou and Hughes have provided the literary world endless wisdom and intellectual treasures with their genius writing.

 

One of the most profound attributes of Hughes is in fact not profound at all. He was an “every man”. One who could write from the perspective of the people and directly for the people. Scholars of his time were quick to overlook Hughes’ talent, as they saw his writing as too simplistic. However, this is just what Hughes had intentionally done. He had created a style of dialogue that connected him to his audience, in a way few authors had yet been able to do. Giving that Hughes spent his writing career bringing awareness to the plight of the African-American community and providing an intimate look at the day-to-day happenings of a black American man struggling to find his place in an unwelcoming society.

 

Langston Hughes is one of the names we now know to go hand in hand with the Harlem Renaissance, adding fire to the movement that would finally put African-American intellects on the map. His most well-known poem, A Negro Speaks of Rivers  proudly displays elements of African heritage, using it as a source of pride. This poem was monumental because it led way for blacks to embrace the cultural they had so long been hiding.

 

I’ve known rivers:

I’ve known rivers ancient as the world and older than the

     flow of human blood in human veins.

My soul has grown deep like the rivers.

I bathed in the Euphrates when dawns were young.

I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep.

I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above it.

I heard the singing of the Mississippi when Abe Lincoln

     went down to New Orleans, and I’ve seen its muddy

     bosom turn all golden in the sunset.

I’ve known rivers:

Ancient, dusky rivers.

My soul has grown deep like the rivers.

Langston Hughes was also one of the innovators of rhythmic poetry, in particular, jazz poetry. The musical culture of the 1920’s and 30’s was booming, and Hughes was deeply in love with music…as he was his writing. He combined the two and created the genre we know of today as jazz poetry. In his collection of poetry The Weary Blues, Hughes’ poems mimic musical tempos and were often read accompanied by jazz music.

Go Read a Book February 4, 2012

In honor of National Libraries Day, I did a little research on the current state of our public libraries across the country. After years of economic downturn and ever-changing tax appropriations, a lot has changed on the horizon of library development. Despite more widely available resources via personal computers and social media, libraries are in more demand than ever before. According to the American Library Association, facilities across the country have seen consistent increases in traffic throughout the past decade.

 

With more than 22% of the population saying they have increased their usage of library resources over the past six months and the number of materials checked-out marking over two billion annually, a bit of attention shall be paid to the workings of this monstrous distribution cycle. Government funding has repeatedly been decreased across the board for libraries over the past three years, leaving many larger urban libraries scrambling to minimize workforces and cut programs all-together.

 

Undoubtedly a disservice to the public, cutting funding for arguably the most influential non-profit organization out there. With the financial challenges facing currently facing millions of Americans, the need for free library resources, technology, and educational programs has skyrocketed; forcing libraries to heighten performance with minimized labor. Doesn’t seem to make much sense, does it?

 

I think it’s about time we take a moment and look a bit closer at all that our libraries have to offer. One of the few areas I am happy to see my tax dollars go toward and admittedly that I would like to take more advantage of. The classes, seminars, group studies, cataloguing systems, and vast collections of material are priceless. And best of all, they come at no price to us.

Candlemas to Critters February 3, 2012

Groundhog’s Day has come and gone once again, and yesterday after seeing his shadow, the rodent has guaranteed us six more lovely weeks of winter. Although there is little to complain about, we’ve had the second mildest winter in history…but who isn’t ready for spring anyway? So this got me thinking about the history of Groundhog’s Day and where this silly little idea came from in the first place. I’m familiar with Candlemas Day, a central European tradition in which Christian clergymen handed out candles and prayers on the day marking the halfway point of the winter and spring solstices. However; I was never aware that Candlemas Day is what would eventually turn into the drunken morning celebration of a rural Pennsylvania town.

 

If Candlemas be fair and bright,
Come, Winter, have another flight
If Candlemas brings clouds and rain,
Go Winter, and come not again.

 

This old Scottish song refers to the tradition, dating back to the mid 1800’s, when (believe it or not) animals were used quite often to predict the future in political forums as well as environmental and weather ones. Originally a hedgehog and his shadow were used to predict the coming of spring, and now the Americanized version with our adorably furry groundhog has sensationalized the tradition.

 

Dubbed “Phil”, he has represented much more than a few more weeks of snow or shine. During prohibition, Phil “demanded” a drink, otherwise condemning the country to 60 more weeks of winter. Apparently even a rodent needs a stiff one every now and then… Phil has traveled numerous times to the White House to meet Presidents, wore a yellow ribbon to represent American hostages in Iran, appeared on Oprah in 1995, and even attempted to take a chunk out of NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s ankle a few years back. Looks like this fortune-telling little critter has a bit of an attitude as well.

 

Books in the Running Brooks February 1, 2012

Shakespeare wrote in As You Like It, “And this our life, exempt from public haunt, finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in everything.” I find few sweeter verses about the delight of the bond between man and nature. Knowledge, experience, romance, religion, and self-actualization are all conjured from the natural elements that surround us. These few lines demonstrate the dire need to remove oneself from society to become “exempt from public haunt” and to look outwards at what can be learned from Mother Nature herself.

 

Although I admit, I have never been the most utmost fan of Shakespeare, because other than his wealth and blessing of gender I believe he would be just a blip in our historical literature studies of the time. However; I cannot help but to adore what he says throughout this play. So provoked by these few lines after first stumbling upon them while sifting through random poetic essays online once upon a time, I have involuntarily used these words as a constant reference point for my overall outlook on life. This bit of wisdom has added a film to my sight, as I have since interpreted the world around me in relation to these ideals.

 

It is so helpful to not only take a step back from the people and places we’re immersed within and examine the daily choices, thoughts and actions of yourself and those around you; but to remain a few steps outside these bounds in order to keep a clear mind to the organic elements that sit below the surface of what ideas enter our minds. To remain analytical about the happenings around oneself is to remain alert, informed, and validated. There are few things as important as this.