"Real freedom lies in
wildness, not in civilization." -Charles Lindbergh
I really couldn't come up with a good topic this week so I
went around and looked for quotations that would inspire some kind of thought
chain in my head. When I came across that Lindbergh quote, I knew he was referring
more to camping and nature much like Emerson, but it struck me on two different
levels. One, the obvious, was the natural element of the quote and the other
was the rebellious.
Over Memorial Day weekend Christina and I took a drive out
of town to Edisto Beach. Our local beaches around Charleston were so packed
that you couldn’t even get out there on the Sunday. Rumor has it that it took
people till well after dark to even get off the beach there was so much
traffic. Yuck! Thankfully, Christina talked me off the ledge and we got in the
car and headed off for a drive through the country to a very remote Edisto about
an hour and a half or so out of town. Just driving through the country and
passing ‘nothing’ was calming. Two lane roads, huge oak trees, country chapels,
vegetable stands, and sunshine were all we needed. Truly a Sunday Drive like I’ve
never really experienced. After about half an hour I honestly felt a release
from all the stresses of ‘The City’ and life in ‘Civilization.’ Just the simple
act of driving out of town was all the relaxation I needed. I felt released
from stress, thoughts of work, thoughts of bills and money and time and
everything that consumes our daily lives. It was just me and the road and the
sun. I was free to relax in my own head and just be for a few hours in that
car, on that beach and on the side of the road with Christina and wherever it
was we felt like stopping.
When I was in High School my Dad and Elaine moved to an
ostrich farm in the middle of nowhere. I HATED IT! Let me repeat in all caps
HATED it. I was young and wanted to be in a city where the action was and things
actually happened. This was before the days of the Internet and instant connection
to anything anywhere in the world from anywhere in the world. I felt alone out
there. I was always counting down the days till I could pack up, leave and
never go back. It made the four long years of High School seem all the longer
out there in the country. I vowed that I would never live out like that ever
again. Of course those were the promises of a 16 year old boy who couldn’t appreciate
the simplicity of it all. Now, if I could find a home outside of the city and a
place that I could afford there, I’d probably snap it up in a heartbeat. If my
two Peace Corps experiences taught me anything it’s that some of the world’s
happiest people are the ones who have never experienced the stresses of ‘Civilization.’
I never will forget my first host-mom stressing out in near panic attack mode
when we made our trip to the capital city of Almaty for the first time. She
spent two days after our return picking raspberries, planting cabbage and
getting dirty in the back yard with nothing but the chickens and cat to keep
her company.
Now I’m not saying I want to live hours away from the
nearest grocery store or I want to have to take my baths in a lake or anything;
I’m just saying being isolated from the hustle and bustle has its advantages.
Being a little more ‘wild’ and a little less involved in ‘civilization’ defiantly
has its appeal especially these days.
It’s been raining a lot here this past week and so more and
more people at work have been hanging out in the lobby and I’ve had occasion to
overhear some of their conversations. The things that we occupy ourselves with
in society these days are kind of pointless. How’s the stock market doing
today? Who cares? It’ll change tomorrow. Why do we care about a lady who killed
her boyfriend or if (surprise) one of Michael Jackson’s kids is a little nutty?
When did celebrity gossip become required reading? Is that a subject in school
now? Even those who involve themselves with politics sound like they are
discussing an overly complicated Soap Opera. And, dear reader, don’t think that
I exempt myself here. My pointless subject of course is sports; which, is
probably the most useless but at least for me most entertaining waste of time.
What I’m getting at here dear reader, and you’ll have to
excuse my ramblings, is that there is something to be said for a wilder side of
life. Simple as it may be, it may just be the one you’re looking for. It is a
more natural take on our human lives even if ‘civilization’ has told us
otherwise.
The other half of the idea that the quote put in my head was
much more internal. What if freedom lies in ideas that are not accepted in
civilized society? What if Alexander Supertramp had it right all along? Wouldn’t
you love to take it that far? Wouldn’t you love to get to a mental place where
you’re part Gandhi, part Jesus, part Supertramp and part Benjamin Franklin? What
if I told you that you already were?
If we are to (truly) believe that we are all part of one
wild, ever expanding, loving source and we are all part of one another past,
present and future all at once; then aren’t we already there? What is keeping
us from seeing that source of pure loving light inside of us? What ‘wild’
things could we do if we could just get over ourselves and get to it?
I’d like to put the blame here on civilization but I cannot.
I cannot hold a grievance against the ‘civilization’ that I live in because it
does not control me. I am free. I am wild. I am the only thing that holds me
back. Only when I accept my true function will I be able to be what I was meant
to be. Time and again this ‘holding back’ this ‘being civilized’ ‘being normal’
will keep me from following my true intent.
This week dear reader, don’t stand in your own way. Go be
wild. Be free.
No comments:
Post a Comment