Want to Leave Civilization...?

The time is upon us (hit the epic music)! Can't believe we've actually arrived at the last day before the trip! Today we'll be getting our canoes to Riverbluff and figuring out exactly how our gear is going to fit in these things; better to get a system down now than at 3am when we have to leave tomorrow morning, right? We'll also do some last minute consolidation with gear, for instance, if we all brought a big tube of toothpaste or everyone brought a large flashlight, we could purge some of that since we only need one or two. I'm hoping to at least shave a few pounds off our load by the time we're actually set to go.

I'd like to change the tone a bit now,if I may, and share a little something that's been on my mind lately. You know, we so often think of human civilization as being true reality; about it encompassing everything and everyone, the ALL IN ALL, but that's actually not true. Besides actual physical structures like roads and buildings, many of the fundamental pillars that drive civilization--a sense of security, a sense of power and control over one's life through money--aren't really there at all; they are illusions that we accept as truth. The key to keeping people believing these things is to impart the sense that human civilization is strong; that it has power over the natural world; that it's something that can be trusted.

But it's not. Look behind the scenes; look a little more carefully and you'll notice that the artificial world we have created must be constantly maintained to keep the natural world from engulfing it. Leave a house or road or car unattended for a few years and watch what happens; not only does the natural world swallow it but, given enough time, even the houses and roads and cars themselves crumble, fall apart, and eventually return to their natural state! The irony in this is darn near poetic! This civilization we have built is not strong at all! It's a flimsy curtain masking a single, certain truth; we DO NOT have control.

Want to leave civilization? It's actually quite easy: YOU GIVE UP CONTROL. When you boil everything down and get rid of all the fluff, that's really what civilization comes down to, right? CONTROL. Humans are not equipped--aren't wise enough, strong enough, big enough--for this task, no matter how you slice it. We aren't designed to carry that kind of burden. That being said, there's a very interesting thing that happens to a human being who finally surrenders that control over their life: they become truly free.

Think about it, cause it really makes sense: once you give up the rights to your very life, from the food you eat to the next breath you take; if you have literally faced and reckoned with your own death, what's left to worry about, what's left to fear? Nothing, folks; the answer is nothing. When you take each moment of your life, not as wages earned, but as a gift that's given, then you've arrived in a place where you can experience what life is actually about.

Hopefully this unveils the ultimate motivations that are driving me to take this trip, but more than that I hope it conveys that you don't need to row three-hundred miles to find peace with your life. That's found in surrender; an attitude and a way of being that can be manifested anywhere, anytime.

-Daniel