"A Silence That Must Be Heard..."

"Much silence has a mighty noise...". Swahili Proverb

"The quieter you become, the more you can hear...". Ram Dass

There are many voices being raised as we approach this Day of The Earth... The one voice... often the quietest one, is that which speaks from within such silence...

Nature and our Mother Earth are a silently powerful, yet vulnerable, entity that also must be heard. Wild place adventures embrace a silence that must be listened closely for too...

Why is our quiet time of musing in nature of such value... Pythagoras said, "Learn to be silent. Let your mind listen and absorb". When we wonder in this way, we come closer to discovering our motives; our own personal why's... When we ponder such, we begin to then create meaning... These become the very essence for our motivation; for why we go and for what we do out in the wild places... Then in understanding what as Nietzsche wrote, "Our greatest experiences, are our quietest moments". We will then stand up for, and protect, that which we see as important and at the foundation of our intentions and meanings...

All of this provides us with a sense of true purpose...

And that is much to gain from the silence of a quiet moment of musing out there...

A silence that must be heard.....

DSD

(My appreciation to Raymes for the top image and to Thomas for the second image.)

"Awakened Dreamings..."

"Grow great by dreams... See things in the soft haze of a spring day or in the red fire of a long winter's evening... Nourish and protect them... Bring them to the sunshine and light which comes to those who sincerely hope that their dreams will come true." W. Wilson

Often when I look deeply into select images, I find myself drifting within these visual elements and then daydreaming... Such waking dreaming can be so very meditative; intensely contemplative. We allow ourselves to see, to ponder, to make connections and thus create perceptions often never known or considered before...

It is from these ephemeral elemental materials that the substance of adventures are born. It is also from these inner worlds that our outer journeys then become real. Not only may such powerful and inspiring thoughts as Wilson's prompt our own musings, but the images like those above add a visual potency of their own to our dreams... In this time of an awakening spring where specific goals and details of plans & preparations begin to formulate, we often need to just remember to dream, just dream... and then follow where these trails may lead us.....

DSD

"Your Pack Is Too Full....."

I wasn't quite sure what was meant by the comment at first; then when I heard it mentioned to my shelter partner as well, we began to talk about it... We had each been told once or twice, in a kind of abstract way by the Outward Bound Instructor, that: "Your pack is too full...".

When first hearing that I shrugged off the comment as I knew I could carry all the gear in my pack. Yet the quiet suggestion seemed not to have been made about anything in the physical realm, but more so about understandings on another level...

The Instructor first said this to me when discussing and sharing ideas for navigation, when I think I kind of dismissed what could have been helpful support. I am a confident navigator who has years of practice out orienteering with lots of different maps & compasses, over many kinds of terrain. I guess I thought that at that time there wasn't much one of my fellow students might offer to help me improve, get better at, or even develop more awareness about when it came to navigation skills. I thought it was an oddly timed comment as at that moment there didn't seem to be any connection between the map discussion and the 'fullness' of my pack...

There in was the nature of my 'know everything' about navigation attitude. There was certainly no room in my 'pack', nor my mind, for new ideas and awareness...

Over the course of that day I was to lose myself more than once, get off track many times, read the terrain wrongly, and even not see some common signs that would assist with direction finding when one is very tired... So much for certainty in the nature of having 'known it all' when real navigation way out there was the challenge. In a Kaizen kind of way, that Outward Bound Instructor quietly demonstrated to me that my pack was indeed too full...

I have pondered the gift of that comment many times over the years, in countless adventure situations. It is a valued musing shared back then with me that I ensure to carry in my pack even now. There is always room for just a little bit more in there.....

DSD

"Adventurers Know Of Opportunity Within Adversity..."

Often things we read about, and others things we are told, suggest that times of trial may actually be more promising than first seen... Some may even sense that this has held true in their own lives. Adventurers though, reflecting the inherent nature of wild place journeys, can actually say they really 'know' of the possibilities of discovering opportunity within adversity...

We often feel this at a depth of our being that may be hard to describe. We have found our own distinct truth of it within our adventure experiences out there. This is not bravado, but rather an earned and humbling experiencing that often shows that contrary conditions may also hold promising and favorable possibilities.

At times when climbing, what seems to hinder us may actually make a route go...

Kayakers know well that difficult waters are often the most fun and the best for skill building...

When rafting, sometimes the more advisable course to take may seem at first to be the roughest looking current...

During hikes and longer treks, the worst hostile weather often brings the most beautiful sunsets...

What appears at first to be misfortune can later be found to hold great treasure, like the elusive double rainbow after a wild storm. We often don't know in the midst of these adverse conditions what the path truly holds for us, nor what meaning we may end up giving to such an experience. These present moments are testing us; much as any of the adversities and trials out there. The juncture of adversity and possibility helps remind ourselves that while difficulties are universal, suffering is relative, and perception is everything...

Adventurers 'know' of the real opportunities that may lay hidden deep within adversity, don't we Dear Friends.....

DSD

"One New Thing....."

This winter I found myself checking out yet another new piece of outdoor gear. It has become very much a tradition of sorts . I like the anticipation of what new equipment may be introduced, the possibility of adding it to the 'collection', and enjoying the wonderment of planning where, and when, and how it will be utilized.

Then... I also found myself at home holding my old wood ice axe. To me, its age, scrapes, and beauty seem to represent it all... every step, each adventure, every mountain...

Here too is one of my scarred paddles from travels through northern lakes and over rough waters and storms. Over there, at the bottom of a stack of them, is one of my very first in a long line of packs and their descendants. Hanging from the doorknob as well is an aged piece of rope; first used when out ice climbing, and now in everyday knot practice...

Beside me is a wooden trunk where pair after pair of boots lay; from old leather to the newer fabric ones, all with so worn treads and so many stories to tell. Here too is that small tripod, first used when caving as we captured images both in depth of earth and emotion. Mixed in with the others of their kind are my compasses, used across deserts, valleys, around mountains, and over the Continental Divide many times. A few have grown those pesky bubbles inside from many cold winters breath. Standing in a corner are a few staffs - carved old wood ones and new collapsible metal ones, all with their own earned scrapes and scuffs.

In this gear room I can also feel and smell my neoprene sea kayaking stuff, and remember its comforting if damp warmth. There is my candle lantern from the latest winter camp, with the same mostly burned candle still within it. Here too are my old leather glacier sunglasses side shields used upon the Columbia Icefields. Further back on the shelf is an old stove from dog sledding among others I have saved and cherished for their reminders of places wandered and musings wondered...

Lots of old gear... so many journeys... so many memories...

And then... here too are a few of these age old cobblestones; some just cleaned, ready to be painted, others waiting patiently to be passed forward.

So that one particular new piece of gear will rest respectfully among its many elders, as I'm sure much of your favorite equipment does also, Dear Finders, all waiting patiently for their time with us out upon their own adventures.....

DSD