On Wilderness

I most certainly could not survive on my own in the deep wilderness without a great deal of luck.  But one of the things I enjoy most is getting out away from cities, away from human activity, where the only sign of humanity is the trail I'm following.  I can hike for hours and hours, or just sit to look at and listen to nature.  So long as I have a safety tether tying me back to the modern world, it thrills me to wander away into mountains, forests, deserts, and ocean beaches. 

I've been to 16 national parks, 14 of which were in the past 2 years.  And all I can think is "why did it take so long?"  Looking back at photos is both wonderful and painful, as I look up from the photos to see the flat brown South Dakota fields.  In summer, all the greenery is corn and beans.  There's no question I'll continue to visit national parks, forests, and monuments.  The only question is how will I balance that with travel around the world?

On Dreams...

Dreams being the lofty goals or perfect scenarios that could come to pass, if only the perfect sequence of events would happen, or working hard and being bold would pay off, or a lottery ticket would produce an overnight fortune.  A person's dreams speak volumes about their personality and passions.  They represent the ideal situation, the life that could be had if everything turned out perfect. 

I don't believe for one second that anyone encountering their dream scenario would actually act the way the expect, though. It's like looking at the tall tower of a castle from far away thinking it must be amazing to be up there.  But from that tower, the view is entirely different.  It could be better than expected, or worse, but always different.  And that's the reason it's so insightful.  We dream of our expectations of the perfect world, of the things we think would matter to us most if all difficulties melted away, of what we could do with unlimited resources.  It's who we really (think we) are.

On Photography

Of course I enjoy reminiscing over personal photos, and of course I am amazed at the scenes captured by professional photographers.  But for me, it never felt particularly valuable to take photos.  On one hand, I lacked the knowledge and experience required to take quality photos.  This was a deficiency of both technical skill and artistic vision.  On the other hand, I felt that taking photos detracted from the moment, that my experiences turned into documentation, that I couldn't fully enjoy my environment or the people around me when I was focused on when and where to take the next picture. 

After taking beginner's photography classes, I am far more interested in taking the photos.  I didn't learn anything I couldn't have found online, which serves as both a reminder that information is easily accessible to those that look and a lesson that accessible information goes unnoticed until you get out and do something that brings it to life.