So August 25th was the centennial birthday of the National Park Service.  I started writing this around then and for some reason I delayed posting it.  I am now very, very glad that I did.  April got the itch last week so late in the morning we headed off to Dinosaur National Monument.  I’ll talk more about the trip later but there is something specific that we saw that I have to tell you about.

We went on a hike there as the sun was starting to set.  We were trying to get back for a campfire program (we didn’t make it) so we were in a bit of a hurry.  For the first time maybe ever I felt sad and maybe even guilty that I was not reading every sign we came across on the trails.  The ones I read were fantastic.  They said a great many things that I have said myself but better.  I’ll give some examples later in the post but for now you should start planning to do some hiking in Eastern Utah.

It’s a little strange to think about what has happened in the last 100 years.  Not only have we ushered in the Technology Age, we have said good bye to living with the land.  In conjunction with that departure, if not at least partially caused by it, we have walked firmly away from the age of community.  We no longer spend time with our neighbors, we no longer step in when we see problems, we no longer take care of each other.

It may be that the social separation and the withdrawal from nature are uncorrelated but I doubt it.  The research is showing an increasing connection between regenerative time spent in the outdoors and mental health.  There is also no way to over state the value that spending time in the seamless community present in unspoiled wilderness can have on our own sense of community.

When you see the complex and intricate symbiosis of the entire natural community it’s easier to feel a part of it and begin to take a positive role in making life better for those around you.  The National Parks, though not really pristine any more, still teem with the kind of life that encourages cooperation.  A skill that is both in incredibly high demand and incredibly underused.  If there is any skill that we as a nation need to cultivate it is compassion or tolerance.

71 years ago we emerged victorious from one of the darkest, bloodiest and most world threatening conflicts we had ever seen on this planet.  In the aftermath as soldiers were dealing with PTSD (we called it shell-shocked), children were being introduced to fathers they had never met and who mothers were recovering from intense austerity measures that both ground down happiness and excitement and brought us together as a country.

They had other effects.  They taught us what we could live without and it has been said wisely that “If you can live without it you probably should.”  I would add “at least for a little while.”  They also taught us that it was a utter foolishness to take anything for granted or wait to go after our dreams.  Both of which kill the soul.

As a result a great many of our parents and grandparents took to the road to explore the country they had fought so hard to preserve.  The result was a moveable community.  Gathering around the campfires with people you had only met that afternoon you would have been greeted by people from every corner of the county and most walks of life.  It was a time of unparalleled bonding in this country and I feel that piece more than anything else is what accounts for the fifties being referred to as the golden age.

But we’ve lost this now.  We no longer meet in large spontaneous groups around a communal fire pit.  If anything we move into our campsites and pretend that there is a wall around our site that isolates us from the presence of all other people.  We complain about habits of other campers.  “The guys down in #21 really have too many dogs for their own good.  Oh and I bet #7 runs their generator all night.”

We clap ourselves on the backs when we manage short superficial conversations at the dish washing station or around our toothbrushes.  We have also grown so accustomed to our comforts and conveniences that when we come to the woods we bring them with us.   Transforming the redemptive wilderness experience into a obnoxious parody of “real life”.

In the rare occasion that reality sets in we realize that there is nothing real about it.  We have fabricated a world that insulates us from reality as much as we are able.  When we are confronted with true reality it is a distinctly unsettling experience.  It reminds us that while we may be in a position of a caretaker on this planet, we are far from the sole proprietors.  At the very least, we share it, more likely we are borrowing it from future generations.

Ideally we would have the connectedness of the 50’s that allowed for the brilliant advancement that has occurred from then till now.  We would have the tolerance of ideas of the 60’s that brought us the civil rights movement.  We would have the unbelievable abilities of communication and accessibility of information that we have now.

We would have all of this without sacrificing the understanding of our dependence on and integral part in the world around us.  I know it sounds impossible to have this cake and eat it too but I can assure you it is possible.  In fact it has never been more possible.  Now, of all times, is the best opportunity we have ever had to reach our goals as humanity.  And yet here we are; squandering our resources in colossal waste, Bickering among ourselves and fighting ideas with bullets (which doesn’t really work by the way).

The solution, while simple, will be far from easy.  To spare you the suspense it will take Discipline, Creativity  and above all Love.  For those who are accustomed to spiritual progression (not necessarily religious, they don’t always overlap) discipline and sacrifice will be understandable.  All great achievements, indeed all things of great value come from, or are found on the far side of some sacrifice.

I have three more posts that will be coming soon that treat more deeply with each of these.  But right now I want to talk about the signs in Dinosaur.  The message was thoughtful, appropriate to the surroundings, well articulated, perfectly on point and completely un-apologetic.

They talked about desert conservation.  They talked about specific animals and the troubles they faced from crowding and interference.  But my favorite sign talked simply and purely about the absolute need of ours to have access to nature.  Sounds familiar, eh?  This is one of my favorite topics.  Here is an excerpt from a sign titled The Virtue Of Need:

It would be ironic indeed to have undertaken the domestication of the planet only to discover that the rhythms of light and dark and of the seasons, the uncertainty of storm, pain and accidents are the stuff of life.

We need uncertainty.  We need pain.  For the same reasons we need to learn how to communicate appropriately.  What good is an idea if it never travels outside of it’s point of origin?  If it never changes behavior of the thinker or improves the lives of those around?  We learn communication and toughness by input and experience.  We get told how something works then we go through it and are told how we did with it.  Then we can call it our own.  Without toughness or courage all other virtues are sacrificed or must hide in the corner.

 

If this message were to be posted on nearly any non-outdoor forum or comment section, anyone who approved of this message would be drawn and quartered in moments.  It is not popular or avant garde.  It is not convenient or safe.  It is in fact inconvenient and unsafe in many critical ways.  It is these qualities and others that make it so valuable.  In the process of separating from nature we have tried to convince ourselves that this new way of living is superior.  I can’t count how many people have fought me when I say that we should live more in rhythm with the cycles and seasons of the world.  They begin by saying “I just don’t work that way.”  They then go on to explain how proud they are of the new reality they have built for themselves.

This is because this group of people believe that you are right and win an argument simply by being louder or meaner than your opponent.  That attitude exists where there are few with any true experience.  By true experience I mean the kind of soul forming experiences when you are pushed past what you felt were your limits and into a previously unknown territory.  The kind of experiences that are so common in wilderness.