[pct-l] did you enjoy it ?

[cmkudija at earthlink.net (Christine Kudija)]

The "inward journey with outward metaphor" is a perfect way to say
"pilgrimage" without the focus on a destination (or penitential images) that
a "pilgrimage" implies.

Why do I do "such a thing"?  "only" having hiked 1500 PCT miles in one
season, 100 in another, the JMT in '82....compared to you, Joanne, I do feel
like a neophyte!  But fwiw -

...because there's just something magic in our contemporary world about
walking a long way for no other reason than to spend time walking there

...because there's something magic about being able to walk from Mexico to
Canada or other long distances self-propelled, with the only real worry is
whether my body will break down, not my car, etc...

...because the PCT goes through terrain that must be seen slowly..

...because walking for a summer (or riding and communing with one's
horse...or packing & communing with one's llamas or goats or whoever)
centers us in a way that few other things can...

...because it gives me courage...

...because it lets me experience fear and learn ways to deal with it...

...because I have a limited time to experience this earth and this permits
me to have experiences not easily come by in day-to-day life in urban
California...

..because thanks to this list and others I know I'm not alone.

Christine "Ceanothus" Kudija

"Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, you can.  Boldness has a genius,
magic and power to it."
                                      Goethe
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Joanne Lennox" <goforth@cio.net>
To: "pct-mailing list" <PCT-L@backcountry.net>
Sent: Monday, October 13, 2003 10:50 PM
Subject: [pct-l] did you enjoy it ?


> When I was traveling along the trail, especially with a horse and
> especially on the Continential Divide where people rarely have seen any
> species of thruhiker(or rider).  Upon find out my intention was to go from
> Mexico to Canada, the first question was generally:  "Why would you do
such
> a thing?'"
>
> Since I thought I was doing it for a whole slew of reasons, and in the end
> probably did not know precisely why anyway, I developed a repertoire of
> answers that were partially right and that I thought would satisfy the
> questioner.  None of these answers included an answer like "to see if I
can
> get there".  Basically for me this is an inward journey that has an
outward
> metaphor and I am interested in the "spiritual aspects" of a long journey,
> not just getting to the end or another place.  This is why I keep going,
> why I haven't got there yet.
>
> The second question that comes up is: "are you enjoying it?"  This always
> stops me dead and I am mystified on how to answer because of the chasm I
> see yawning between us.  I explain that I would not attach the word
> "enjoyable" to the experience as a whole although there are enjoyable
> moments. Interesting, experience, learning, expanding, powerful, process,
> etc. are words with a better fit.
>
> So.  Why do the rest of you "do such a thing" and "do you enjoy it"?
>
> Goforth
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