Early on in Outward Bound, in later years during multi-day treks, and still now when wandering the waters I take out a small moisture resistant ditty bag, and uncover yet another small journal... Those blank pages have always seemed inviting to me... Like the tide, I never know just what will turn up. I often wonder what unknowns, what sorts of secrets will appear through these written musings...
Mapping our journeys in this way through the use of a personal adventure journal has many, many benefits. There is a real potency in the simple use out there of pencil and paper... Seemingly simple words can resonate with an energy; much as any warm campfire...
There are many styles of journal writing we can utilise when wandering: Writing backwards is great for the memory; while writing forwards is a powerful enhancement to ideas about future adventures and our commitment towards them. Our memories can be sieve like at times; but the written word, even drawings and symbols representing our experiences, are not. There is no perfect format to follow; no index to use. Any individual style is really up to you. Often many of us will include other items along with our words: Souvenirs, memento's, and drawings all can be symbols that remind us and tell stories from out there in ways that words alone may not speak to. Such a record, in a personal journal, is not a map we purchase and follow, but one we create as we actually go along... After years of use, it becomes such a familiar piece of gear. Many times the dreams of where we want to go next out there are from a cherished awareness of where we each have been... Such an adventure journal can, over time, become a treasure for each of us, as valuable as any of the other essentials. Most keep such writing to themselves although I recall a shared journal we also used on Outward Bound with very fond memories.
The endowment of words you map for yourself in this way Dear Finders, will become a journey in itself, and a wild place legacy like no other...
DSD
2 comments:
This is one of my favorite ways to pass the night by the fire.
As a lifelong writer, I have always carried a journal, notebook, or even scraps of looseleaf paper to pen my observations, note, and thoughts on my wilderness and climbing trips.
I dug out one of my most memorable journals a few weeks ago. It dates from a 2-week solo trip to Chicago Basin in Colorado's Needle Mountains in 1971 when I was 19. I had neglected to bring a notebook so I was left with 3 sheets of college-ruled paper. So for 2 weeks I wrote in minature! Now I need a magnifying glass to make out some of the penciled words...
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