I was specifically asked (I swear) for an ‘oldie goldie’. This is from a few years ago but, today, it all came back again. So, in that sense, it is current.
One of the weird differences between living in the woods and the city is one’s increased ability to be more present in the moment. This altered state of being may just be due to aging and failing memory but I prefer to think of it as the beginning of some kind of better-late-than-never-enlightenment. I am no philosopher but going to the woods at least increases awareness of the senses and probably, by extension, one’s sense of being.
God knows I am overdue for some consciousness raising. For the most part I have lived my life in the dark recesses of thought, worry, planning and cursing the myriad and inevitable screw-ups associated with those activities. Plus I commuted. Put more poetically, I didn’t spend very much time smelling the roses on my way to or from work. Too much to do, I guess.
Of course, the counter to the ‘too-much-to-do’ excuse for being unconscious is that I have never been busier than I am at the cottage. I have a lot to do. And yet I seem to have more free time for this existential indulgence. Go figure. I must have slipped through a tear in the time-space continuum. “I have time to think therefore I am” (attributed to a modern era Sartre family member).
Or it may be because chopping wood takes time but not a great deal of focused-on-the-work-at-hand-type thinking. Plus, once you get the hang of it, it is difficult to screw up, the surprise of occasional bloodletting notwithstanding. Ergo, more physical time, less worry time – with just a bit of first aid practice now and then to keep your mind on its (and yours) toes.
And that’s a good thing. It is a much healthier state of living. Or it can be. I distinctly recall being so much in my own mind that I could drive twenty miles to an urban appointment without recalling anything I drove past while on the way. I was so deeply committed to what was coming up (or what had happened in the news) that I failed to notice what just went by. How does one live by staying in a media-dominated past and future life without even noticing the present one? It was not hard for me to live that way in the city.
Mind you, a large part of being present in the ‘now’ these days is not having to be present anywhere else. I don’t have to plan ahead. I have few, if any appointments. No one expects me. No deadlines. Hardly anyone calls or, if they do, I am not there to answer the phone. Philosophical question: ‘If a cell-phone rings in the forest does anyone care’?
The easiest way of achieving conscious presence is simply being outside and having all the physical senses wide awake and the usual thoughts turned off. Walking in the woods is a sure fire way of leaving your cares and worries behind. It’s a magical thing.
It’s also humbling. Each step deeper into the forest is like an entry to an empty stage with a huge but quiet and reverential audience. The space is broken only by your own intrusion. You are special only because you are there – no other reason. And, because of that, you become very aware of your own existence. Very profound stuff if you think about it. Which, of course, you shouldn’t do since it defeats the whole effect.
It is not just the magical moments that do it. Weather, too, is a big factor in awareness. In modern lifestyles, we can mostly ignore it and get along to the mall or the office regardless of how much Mother Nature protests. We deny the weather. Not so in the wilds. Out here you can’t ignore Mother’s moods. She is simply too present and omnipresent.
It’s impossible to ignore the ‘now’ when you are in the woods. ’Now’ is big out here. It embraces you. Living even partly feral requires an intimate and immediate awareness of your environment. Fortunately, the surroundings are attractive and beautiful. The present moment is often so enchanting, so totally occupying, you are ravished by it. It is literally a ‘momentous’ love affair with life.
Weird eh?
I have no idea if life really is more meaningful or if my existence is any more enlightened. I haven’t swapped my jeans for a toga-like sari, lost weight, gone bald or acquired a cult or anything really neat like that. Nor can I get into the Lotus position or even a beatific mood. I am pretty happy just to be able to get out of the chair on my own. I have no demonstrably hard evidence of achieving even the outskirts of Nirvana except for my desire to be here – and no where else.
I suspect I am doing well, however, if only because my mind is not so cluttered, my being not so burdened by trivial pursuits and my wife hasn’t left me. It could, of course, just be a later-in-life appreciation for this kind of living run somewhat amok with enthusiasm and excitement. But, if that is what it is, that’s not so bad either.
What is, is, after all.
Our Off the Grid Home 
Joseph Cambell said,"I don't believe people are looking for the meaning of life as much as they are looking for the experience of being alive."
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Interesting words from Joseph Campbell, as quoted by "Anonymous". Soon after we moved to the Island I asked everyone at (our amazing) Book Club what it was that drew them to this life. After a bit of discussion the consensus was "It makes us feel alive." – Sally
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"We must let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting for us." Joseph Campbell
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