Tell the truth to yourself, and the rest will fall in place.
-Avett Brothers
Fellow adventurers, I’m not sure how you feel about the Avett Brothers. If you don’t care for them, well, nobody’s perfect, but that’s not the point. The point is telling the truth to oneself is not for the faint of heart, and I was recently confronted with the fact that I was failing miserably at it. Really, that’s an existential concern, and I don’t know about you, but addressing an existential concern is not something I can do while being assailed by distractions. So, I did what any reasonable adventurer would do. I went home where there aren’t any.
Cold Night + Warm Fire = Truth
Let me explain. I have a home in the strictest sense; you know, the place I occasionally sleep, pay my bills (most of them anyway) and engage in the mundane endeavors we must all undertake on a daily basis as semi-functioning adults. That’s not home to me though.
This is.
I know what you’re thinking.
What are you talking about, Deuce? This is supposed to be a website about the outdoors.
That’s fair enough, but bear with me (if you’re still here) and you will see this post is very much about the outdoors – or more to the point what the temporal and spiritual collectivity we inadequately refer to as the outdoors means to each of us and our society as a whole. I can’t say exactly what it means to you, and I don’t want to. That mystery is part of what makes the outdoors an elemental fiber of our beings – something primal we yearn for in our marrow even if we sometimes fail to realize it on a conscious level. That is truth – no matter what.
Every leaf seems to speak. -John Muir
One could be forgiven, though, for believing the truth has grown more elusive than ever. In fact, at times it even seems the truth is whatever the loudest voice and deepest pocket says it is; a commoditized asset to be torturously extracted like a lump of coal then presented as a diamond to people hungry for precious gems but unwilling (or unable) to seek out their own.
Psssst. Hey. Here’s one!
By now you’re probably wondering when I’m going to tell you where the photos were taken and how to get there. Given what you’ve come to expect from The Gram those are fair questions, but you won’t find the answers here. Undoubtedly some of you have teased them out on your own, and that’s great, but right now we’re after a different kind of answer. Now more than ever we’re in need of truth – real truth – the kind of truth only the outdoors can tell us. It is incumbent upon each of us to go find it.
Some waterfalls only flow after the rain. That’s truth.
What’s your truth? Don’t ask me. I don’t even know what mine is sometimes, but what I do know is where to find it. So…
I wanna make amends but where do I start?
Tell the truth to yourself.
See you out there!
Deuce
- Kayaks 101 - August 6, 2023
- Just the Place – Lower Buffalo River - September 20, 2022
- Sweet Release - June 23, 2022
This really resonated with me, Luke, and it was kind of unexpected. Like a lot of us, I’ve been weighted down by the current state of affairs. My refuge has always been away from the walls of my home. I’ve actually spent far less time than usual in what I think of as my only place of worship, the outdoors.
For some of us, there’s something magical and yet entirely essential about putting your feet down on a long, tough trail you’ve never walked before or daring yourself to scale the sharp face of a high cliff wall just to remind yourself of the necessity of knowing that you still can.
Someday (and sooner than I’d rather admit) I might not be physically able to do the things I can do now. And when that day comes, I don’t want my mind to drift back to memories of an office, meetings, and spreadsheets, but rather to brilliant sunlight, rushing waters, green forests, gray mountaintops, and flowers that bloom like rainbows, where I knew the only boundaries were the ones I set for myself. I haven’t been fulfilling my sense of adventure or refilling my soul by personally taking in the wonder of it all. Maybe somehow I forgot for a little bit that to better face the uncertainties waiting inside, I have to renew and replenish my mind and spirit outside.
Jim, what a thoughtful and gratifying response! I know exactly what you mean. Thank you for taking the time to comment.
Stripped of everything but finding my way, I am able to be honest with myself. That’s the gift nature gives freely if you’re willing to accept it.
Thanks for the article and dash of vulnerability.
Bec, thank you for the kind words and perspective!
You the man, Trader Guy / Duece!