On a long drive a few months ago my wife asked me why I was so fascinated by the notion of walking the entire Appalachian Trail. Why, indeed?
I've given a lot of thought to this over the last several months as I've made my preparations for this journey of a lifetime. There is no one simple reason why. There are in fact many reasons why. Here are as many reasons as come to mind, in no particular order -
- I go in search of answers to the Great Questions: Why are we here? What is the meaning of life? Where did we come from? Where do we go to when we die? What is my purpose on earth?
- I go in search of direction for the future: What will I do with my life when this hike is over?
- I go because every man should complete a great quest in his lifetime. This will be mine.
- I go because I seek to be special. To this day, only about 10,000 people have ever hiked the entire Appalachian Trail. If I complete my journey, I will be in a very select club.
- I go now because I am still young enough, strong enough, healthy enough, wealthy enough, and foolish enough to attempt it. And perhaps even more importantly, those who are dearest to me are likewise still healthy, wealthy, etc enough for me to leave them for 6 months straight.
But as usual my wife, aka "Squeaky", has I think the best insight of all as to why I am doing this. She studies (among many other things) the Tarot. Recently she had me read the description of the Hermit card from the Tarot deck. In this particular guide to the Tarot, the Hermit card depicts the Greek god Cronos. Cronos is an image of the last of the four Moral lessons which the Fool must learn: the lesson of time and the limitations of mortal life. The Hermit (Cronos) is an old man with a grey beard who carries a lamp of insight and who has travelled a long and lonely journey to find understanding and to ultimately accept his own mortality. "Squeaky" tells me that she thinks that I am taking my own Hermit's journey. I believe she is right.
Wish me well. I leave a week from tomorrow on Sunday, March 23, 2008. From that point on "Squeaky" and my daughter will be taking over the blog postings, though the photographs and words will be mine (I will mail them in from Post Offices along the trail).
See you on the Trail!
the G'Town Colonel
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
I wish you well on your journey, Steve. May the Great Spirit be with you, and guide you on your path to enligtenment.
Blessings to you my friend,
Michele
I love you Dad!! You are so amazing and inspiring to me! =)
So I was just telling my coworker, Miyagi-san and he says that to walk the AT would be comparable to walking from Okinawa to Hokkaido (the entire length of Japan). Sugoi! (means "Cool!")
Post a Comment