Sometimes Its Cold and Your Knuckles Bleed

Now more than ever I have a desire to get outdoors. Far away outdoors. Somewhere in a deep wilderness where it’s just me, the solitude, and nature.

I’ll take a cold and wet forest at high elevation or a stifling hot desert valley where my only neighbors are the lizards, snakes, and coyotes.

We live in crazy times. Read the news on any given day and you will believe the world is a large spinning dumpster fire. 

Rising crime, inflation, food shortages, supply chain issues, war at Europe’s door, drugs, human trafficking, uncontrolled immigration, corruption, extremism, school shootings, political divisiveness, a pandemic. I could go on, but most of us are living this reality. 

We are in the midst of significant global change that will likely redraw nations, borders, economies, cultures, and societies as we know it. Many people are are eyes wide shut. Either ignoring what they do see or drowning in the noise of the contemporary world on full display online on our iPhones.

No one seems happy or capable to listen to each other, let alone help one another. Our elderly are forgotten and it is common to hear of yet another youth-on-elderly assault in one of our cities. Urban areas are not exclusive or magnetized to crime and social disparity; in the past few decades rural areas have been permeated by drugs and crime. The world we live in is a scary place indeed. Thomas Paine’s words are fitting in 2022 as they were in 1776 -  “These are times that try men’s souls.”

Now more than ever, we must find our wilderness. Somewhere deep in our genetic code we have the primitive ingredients to survive and thrive in nature. Early humans were nomadic hunter gatherers who migrated for the need of food and shelter. Life WAS hard. Distractions were few. Awareness was vital. Skill with primitive tools, knowledge of the environment, one’s senses, collaboration with others, and endurance improved chances of survival.

Threats to early humans came from nature. Seasonal weather changes, risk of injury on a hunt, depleted local resources causing privation, and the mortal danger from the occasional clash with other competing humans.

Maybe our early ancestors felt similar fears, anxieties, and feelings of helplessness. Perhaps the world felt like a large dumpster fire back then too. 

Maybe we can draw strength, resilience, and hope from what we know about the challenges our primitive ancestors faced in their time on earth, where sometimes its cold and your knuckles bleed.

Perhaps the answer to our problems is somewhere in the solitude of the outdoors. Maybe in the wilderness we can find our sanity and humanity, where upon coming back to the madness of our current world, we come back - perhaps a better person.