| Copyright 2003
Wilderness Drum, Inc.
All rights reserved Frequently Asked Questions
Steve Beyer
What's so special about the wilderness? It is hard to say just what it is about the wilderness that makes it so conducive to transformative experiences. We should not be overly idealistic. Barefoot people raise babies in the wilderness, love and hate, eat and fight, gossip and quarrel, all without being much better or worse as people than you or I. But when we, civilized and burdened, find ourselves under the stars, in the solitude and silence, we can see within ourselves in new ways. I think there may be three reasons for that. - The wilderness is a great teacher. Decisions have immediate tangible consequences. If you don't put up your tarp in the rain, you get wet. If you don't cook dinner, you don't eat. If you don't pay attention, you die. There is no one you can blame. You find out who you are.
- The wilderness gives you a very special sense of place. You have to learn the wilderness, study it, give it the names you need to remember it, open yourself to the fearful and sacred places where you live. I am not talking about a yuppie backpacker hurrying through the wilderness, map in hand, keeping on schedule, making an extra mile before dinner. I am talking about finding a home for yourself in the wilderness, asking permission from the spirits, finding out where you are.
- The wilderness teaches you to to listen. Perhaps that is why people tell each other so many stories in the wilderness. In the silence and solitude, under the stars, you can, perhaps for the first time, encounter the Sacred Other, attend to the images sent to you by your own soul, listen attentively to the spirits of the plants and animals, who will without a doubt speak to you, if you are polite and patient, trying to find out what you must do.
For More Information < Previous Next > |
