Since this is my birthday I have decided to write about what I have learned thus far on the Appalachian Trail and Long Trail. But first, an update.
We got our Sherpa back! Yay! Sherpa is back on the trail after recovering from a knee injury. She rejoined Blue and I at Kent Pond. Chicory unfortunately, had to press on ahead of us. She had to keep moving to meet up with a friend and I needed to see a Dr. because I woke up in the middle of the night vomiting. It turns out that I just had a lot of stomach acid due to a high fat diet. The Dr. at the amazing free clinic in White River Junction called The Good Neighbor Health Clinic, gave me a prescription for a Prilosec equivalent and I am feeling a lot better. The next day Blue and I got back on the trail and just as we arrived back at Kent Pond, Sherpa was exiting the woods. We were really happy to see her and she is glad to be back on the trail. We are currently in Manchester Center, VT and are heading out again this afternoon. I hope we can catch up with friends soon. I miss those guys already!
One more quick update before I write more selfishly. I received two very generous gifts yesterday in time for my birthday and I felt very blessed. One was from a new friend I met hitch hiking. I will not give up the name because I am so grateful for the random act of kindness and I would hate to cheat the significance of the gesture. The other, I don’t mind saying came from Sherpa with no less significance but since it was a birthday fun pack, consisting of a dart gun, birthday princess tiara, temporary ninja turtle tattoos, and 30 sucks suckers; I feel it’s the kind of gift you tell about. Again I feel continually blessed on this adventure and grateful to all those who are a part of it.
As always, I have many more details that I selfishly would like to share, but for the sake of time I will move on to some of what I have learned thus far. Please keep in mind that I don’t have time to edit today so there may be some incomplete thoughts.
Walking in the early morning hours I often have many clear glimpses of the essence of life. When my body and mind are busy maintaining my balance and pulling me up a mountain, something deeper is free to take over the higher level faculties of my brain. So often I am so full of unused energy that I cannot recognize the more subtle and significant world around me. Yesterday I had a simple revelation that may seem trivial but had a significant impact on my world view.
First, let me say that I am not a religious person. In my experience, I have found that religion is not the path that will lead me to living a content life. In my heart I do feel that this is a path for some, but I also feel that religion is a barrier for many others that, in their laziness, have not found their true essence because they have a packaged soul recipe that they do not understand nor truly seek to understand. Ultimately though, this is not for me to judge. But I have observed the sloth in myself and so I am sympathetic to those who suffer from complacency.
Yesterday, as I was walking, my mind was drifting and suddenly I was conscious of my thoughts. I realized I was toying with a verse from the bible. “truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.” Mathew 17:20. In my child’s mind, I took this verse to mean that if you had the smallest amount of faith you would have Jedi like powers. In my Christian years I just assumed that faith, even in the smallest proportions, was unavailable. I didn’t see anyone around moving mountains with their psychic powers. I took this as further evidence of my insufficiency as an imperfect being, which I think is a theme in many people’s Christian dogma. Suddenly I had the revelation that even the biggest lumbering fool, given enough time, can move mountains. It takes no special powers. Just the recognition that it is possible, the will to see it through, and the patience to see it done.
In fact, there are people all over the world moving mountains around with no more than a backhoe. You could do it by hand one grain of sand at a time, given enough time. Or you could take out a loan and have a team of workers do it by the bucket full. Moving mountains is actually quite trivial. It is not any more significant than moving a mustard seed. Move a mustard seeds worth of dirt over and over for a hundred years and you might just do it. It is no significance at all. I am not sure why it would be a worthwhile venture. I much prefer a mountain to a mall.
Even so, I am always interested at how my perception affects my ability to see the deeper wisdom in the teachings around me. Who knows, perhaps we can move mountains with our psychic power. Maybe if we approached the problem as you would moving a mountain at a grain of sand at a time, without the attachment to how quickly it is completed, maybe we will have some way of doing it. I can see no real use apart from amusement for myself to develop such a talent, but the point I came to is that all problems we present ourselves with have, at their root, the same basic challenge. We simply have to recognize that with patience and presence of mind, all problems are no problem at all.
Take the Appalachian Trail for example, it is roughly 2186 miles long. Which, to some, sounds like a huge undertaking. Ultimately when you boil it down it is just a series of steps. Walking a step, for most people, is a trivial undertaking. The problem of the Appalachian Trail then is simply a series of trivial steps only made nontrivial when undertaken all at once by the mind. In fact, it is no problem at all. With the right amount of patience, will, and faith; the trail is quite insignificant.
I am not surprised if that statement would upset people. Especially those who found the trail to be quite difficult. For those people, including myself at times, I say consider what is really difficult about the challenge. In my experience, it is the battle in the mind. When it is raining or cold, or perhaps there is a minor injury to consider, the mind will want to quit. Its primary functions seem to be survival, consumption, and energy conservation. It doesn’t see the point in doing anything that is not related to those three things. I have found that it will do everything in its power to convince me to be as lazy and selfish as possible. I will hear it repeating over and over the “this sucks” anthem with each step, though I am pleased on a deeper level. What my unconscious mind is unaware of, is that it has no idea what truly pleases the Self at all. To see the trail through, or any other self-imposed problem, I just try to focus my mind on new anthems that have faith at their core.
Perhaps I will find something more meaningful to my fellow man than walking on a readymade trail and consuming prepared goods. At the moment this problem I have chosen is sufficient and I expect I will be just as content with the next one.
I have more observations to share but they will have to wait until next time. Our next major stop is listed below in case anyone would like to send something to myself, Mabel, or my hiking partners. Thanks to everyone who has wished us well along our way and I hope to be able to post more about our progress soon.
James Puckett
C/O General Delivery
Great Barrington, MA 01230
Please hold for AT hiker
ETA 9/10/2013
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