All photos by Bryan Harwood
Wilderness recreation is not simply just a hobby of mine to
distract me from the “real world” of work and responsibility; Wilderness IS
my Real World, additionally my overall drive for living. Wilderness, as the
whole entity that it is, provides me with a myriad of channels in which I need
in order to keep my sanity, likewise my motivation and ambition. When entering
wilderness in solitude, I gain personal growth and spiritual expansion through
a multitude of experiences, whether conditional or mental. Through these
“Wilderness Experiences,” I can find truth within myself including the purpose
for existence and the all-embracing meaning of life.
Over the
last six years, I have spent more than 400 nights within
a wilderness setting through countless personal backpacking trips, my 2010
season volunteering with NPS in Yosemite working backcountry patrols, and the
2011 season interning with SBF in the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness working
restoration projects and trails, and my 2013 MCC season as a member of the Selway Bitterroot Wilderness Immersion Crew. Within these nights, and the days in between,
I have had a lot of time to explore my mind and actually think. From thinking
my very own thoughts without any influence from any source or distraction, I
have begun to formulate core ideas for an infinity of philosophies. I will now
attempt to describe what these core ideas are.
First, I
will give you MY personal definition of Wilderness so that you have an
understanding of where I stand on the subject, and so that you may understand
the following bulk of this letter. I am quoting myself here…
“Wilderness is Not just a large tract of roadless land on
a map legislatively designated for the exclusive purposes of providing
recreation, science, history, and various ecosystem services (clean water,
clean air, wildlife, etc..) Wilderness is much more valuable as a fundamental
basis for a system of beliefs which holds the potential of being the foundation
for personal exploration and spiritual salvation. The physical Wilderness in
the form of the undeveloped landscape as seen through the eyes, is the gateway
to the expanse of mental Wilderness as seen through the soul, the very core of
our being. Wilderness is an extensive idea that wholly revolves around true freedom,
the freedom to think without distractions of the mind that cloud the
interaction to our soul. Wilderness provides the pure non-distracting element
of true solitude in which one becomes unrestricted by the pressures and
expectations of the modern world that ultimately provides the uninhibited and
uninterrupted exploration of one’s very own mind. Wilderness is the rejection
to the deceptive facades of society, and a refusal to fully participate in the
preconceived mold and conformities of the modern world. Wilderness is
contemporary anarchy in the form of a trend less counter-culture and the portal
to find personal identity away from influencing factors and peer-pressured
fashions. Wilderness is uncorrupt by the corrosive deceptions of money and
power, untainted by the greedy and selfish nature of man, and it is judged not
by a critical congregation of hypocritical socialites. Over all, Wilderness is
the Divine Temple in which to discover the genuine power of one’s very own soul
connection to a higher power, and finally it is the ageless masterpiece that
holds the very throne room of GOD himself.”
With all of my personal experience within the physical
wilderness, I have come to conclude that this working definition of Wilderness
is solid fact. I may not have tangible evidence to scientifically prove most of
these defining characteristics of Wilderness, but what I do have are tried and
proven experiences which have given me cause to define wilderness in such a
manner. Wilderness has provided me with the tools to explore my mind and expand
on personal philosophies on life, existence, and God. Now I will describe the
process in which Wilderness bestows the gift of freedom and interaction with
God himself.
I have come to term the entire process in which I am
about to explain to you as “The Wilderness Experience.” Over the years, the
term “wilderness experience” has had many different meanings for me and will
continue to evolve over the coming years of Wilderness exposure. Previously, my
ideas did not own a cohesive continuity among each other, and for that I became
overwhelmed, shelved my progress, and submitted myself to the human emotion of
Love where I thought to be content. It was not until very recently when I
finally confronted a perpetually haunting demon within the desert wilderness of
Zion that I bridged a few daunting gaps within my Wilderness idea. Finally,
after five years of trying to make sense out of the sensations that Wilderness
ministers, I bring harmony to the previously vast unorganized philosophy of the
Wilderness Experience. Although it will continue to change, this is where I am
at right now with it.
First and foremost, I must explain a very significant
component to the entire process. Wilderness in its physical form presents a
non-distracting forum for the mind. Distractions are the single factor
that determines a true Wilderness Experience from a simple hiking trip. There
are external distractions and internal distractions that we, as 21st
century humans, experience on a daily basis. External distractions are that of
society’s strong influencing grip on our own individuality and personal
identity, such as the ever-present pressure to conform with the ideal mold set
on by an inescapable media that inflicts its subliminal propaganda to the human
sheep. External distractions can also be entering Wilderness with one or more
other individuals, due in fact that conversation will always lead to the façade
world outside clouding the mind, thus the importance of solitude.
Internal distractions are the most difficult to eliminate from the mind.
Internal distractions are negative human emotion, memory, and self-doubt; I
like to call these distractions “demons.” Basically, anything that remotely
diverts the mind from being wholly present in the Wilderness is a distraction.
Do not confuse these distractions with the natural human reactions to
stimuli described in following paragraphs.
It is
not possible to have a Wilderness Experience without obviously being physically
present in a Wilderness setting, preferably and most successfully in solitude.
This, I have come to term as the External State, for it deals with the
body and mind’s physical exposure and reaction to a Wilderness setting. The
Wilderness, as it stands in its physical state of untrammled, undeveloped, and
natural landscape is the key to a doorway into a divine kingdom of overwhelming
beauty and tranquility that floods the human senses beyond anything
manufactured by the works of mortal man. The visual sensation that we acquire
from being present within the Wilderness is the non-distracting element in its
external form. There is no modern human influenced distraction within
Wilderness, for it is the very natural habitat of the Homo sapien,
therefore we can connect to our human instinct eliminating societal influences
in our minds. This is very crucial in the initial stages of the Wilderness
Experience process because when thoughts of the façade world outside cloud our
mind, it is as if we were not immersed in the Wilderness at all.
When the Wilderness has lured the individual in with
beauty and nature, the human instinct fills our being, obtaining feelings of
physical strength and mental power. I have come to term this the Conditional
Factor of the Wilderness Experience. After hundreds of thousands of years
of human evolution, these instincts are easily resurfaced within our ancestral
habitat. In general, the physical exertion of the body (heavy hiking, sore
limbs and joints, climbing, dehydration,etc..) along with elemental conditions
(heat, cold, wet, elevation,etc..) in which we subject ourselves to, trigger
instinctive responses of the human body, which ultimately leads to a mind clear
of internal distractions. When the mind is occupied with sustaining itself for
survival during and after extreme conditions, it has vacated the need to dwell
on internal distraction, thus the importance of pushing the body to its limits.
However, it is important to eliminate internal
distractions in order to gain full benefit from the experience, sometimes the
very confrontation with your inner demons is, in its own, a type of Wilderness
Experience. This is the Confrontation State of the process. These
internal distractions are very real demonic forces that cloud our mind’s
interaction with the soul. Subjecting yourself to complete solitude is a risky
undertaking, not only for conditional purposes, but also for the internal
battles in which we face with ourselves mentally. A man can drive himself to
insanity by means of deep solitude, but it’s the will of our soul to defeat the
demons in order to gain full access to a clear and uninterrupted mind.
Confronting inner demons is emotionally and mentally straining because self
doubt torments the mind. Once the mind is set in negativity, it is a
challenge to reverse, but the will of the soul over powers the weakness of the
mind when present in the Wilderness. When all distractions are eliminated, the
true Wilderness Experience shall commence.
Once the External State and all its conditional factors
of the Wilderness have wiped the slate clean from the overactive preoccupied
brain and victory over inner demons has been successful during the
Confrontation State, our minds have a clear-cut path with interaction with the
inner core of our being, the Soul. It is with this interaction with our soul
that we find out who we truly are from a spiritual perspective, thus I have
termed this the Exploratory Phase. The human Soul is the perpetual being
that defines our unique individual characteristics, talents, passions, and
overall existence. When the mind is no longer caught up in the influences and
pressures from society, distractions, the Soul is liberated to interpret itself
into the mind; therefore, the individual discovers thy true identity and self.
When the uninhibited discovery of one’s true self is achieved, true freedom to
exist is rewarded. Freedom with our own identity provides unconstrained realms
of thought and philosophy over all existence because we are not restricted to
predetermined ideas set by predecessors from long ago. The freedom found within
Wilderness is not limited to physical freedom and will, but also the true
freedom to think. With the liberty to think for ourselves, as well as
the wisdom of who we are, we ultimately find peace.
The mind and the soul have a definitive connection to one
another that when left undisturbed are able to interpret one another. If the
soul represents the fundamental core of who we are as individuals and the mind
is the control system for the physical body as well as receptor to outside
stimuli, than the mind ultimately interprets the soul. Some would call it a
conscience that tells us right from wrong, or an inner voice that internally
tells the mind what an individual should do. When a distraction interrupts the
soul from getting through to the mind, the soul is then shut out from the
conscious mind, thus the reason for so many human sheep with no personal
identity. Once true freedom has been reached through all the previously
mentioned phases and states, the soul itself is free to express the true
identity of one’s self. This how ultimate truth is discovered during the
Wilderness Experience. Peace, freedom, and truth are just initial phases of
reaching the highest plateau of the Wilderness Experience. Once contentment is
found through these forums within ourselves because of soul interaction, the
mind finds unity with God.
A good friend of mine told me that we, as individuals, we
are but single waves that are part of the greater whole that is the ocean, as
the soul is but single pieces of God. God is the center of all existence as
well as main source of spiritual energy that flows through all living beings,
therefore, the individual soul is directly unified with God. We are all a part
of the same source of energy that holds everything in place, and God is that
source. Through the Wilderness Experience, it is fully possible to have
conference with the divine master that is God. The elimination of distraction
that brings peace, truth, and freedom to the mind, finally allows the soul, which
is the main line of communication with God, to be truly at the Divine State.
This is the goal and ultimate achievement to the Wilderness Experience, and
when God speaks to us directly through our souls and into our minds, it is
finally up to the individual to listen and understand.
I have experienced the full potential of the Wilderness
Experience within my Wilderness travels, and I have truly heard the voice of
God within my mind. There is nothing more genuine than the wisdom that I have
acquired about myself and reality through the glorious power of the almighty
God. I have only experienced this for myself within Wilderness, and that is why
I write about it. God is very real to me, and the only place to discover it is
through the very temple that is the Wilderness. I sit and write words that I
could never write on my own, and I know that it is coming from the highest of
high, the mightiest of mighty, and the most powerful of power, God. The
Wilderness is a temple, and it is my church. There are no pews, altars, or
preachers; however God is present. When the Wilderness speaks we must listen,
for the voice is the very interaction with God.
I am only yet beginning to understand this process, and I
plan on continuing to understand it. With this general synopsis of the
Wilderness Experience that I have shared with you, I hope you can now
understand how and why Wilderness has touched my life so significantly. There
are still endless amounts of information in my head about this subject, and
that is why I am going to write a book about my philosophy. My plan is to go in
depth on the process as well as write about my personal Wilderness Experiences
in order to provide examples and credibility towards my ideas. Wilderness is a
very real matter of subject in which I have taken upon myself as my life’s
devotion and dedication to further explore and understand. I will expose the 21st
century benefits of Wilderness to a society that has forgotten its celestial
powers through extensive personal analysis through a variety of Wilderness
experiences. I shall continue to push my body past its physical capabilities,
immerse myself in solitude, subject myself to extreme conditions, pray heavily,
and thou shall be at the mercy of Wilderness in all its divine glory for the sake
of redemption and salvation. There is no scientific method for my theories;
however, I am just as human as the next individual, and I know that what shall
bring peace, freedom, and God for me, will surely do the same for them.
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