Into the Wild

The movie, Into the Wild begins with a quote from Lord Byron which reads:

“There is a pleasure in the pathless woods;

There is a rapture on the lonely shore;

There is society where none intrudes;

By the deep sea, and music in its roar;

I love not man the less, but nature more.”

This apt quote sums up the movie beautifully as the story follows the journey of Christopher McCandless as he rejects society to pursue his “Great Alaskan Adventure” - which was ultimately his last adventure.

He renames himself “Alex Supertramp” as he denies his previous existence and sets out to reinvent himself. Throughout his journey he meets people along the way who take him in and show him the kindness and love that he never received in his troubled upbringing. He was a man determined to live a life of solitude in the wild, yet somehow, unintentionally, he continues to find himself in community.

As a young, educated man with radical ideas about life and his place in the world, he believed he knew best (as I’m sure most early twenty-somethings do when they go out into the world). Now, Alex, was a romantic - fascinated by books of daring adventures and wild places. Alaska, to him, symbolized the epitome of life itself and seemed like it was just the place for him.

He hit a couple of snags on his way. It turns out that symbolically burning all your money and cutting up all forms of identification in rebellion against society may not have been the wisest call. He was radical, but his ideas were not completely off, I’m sure that many of us have dreamed of leaving the rat race of modern society and retreating to a simpler, purer way of living.

 I believe Alex was spot on about the joy, healing and fulfilment that a life spent in nature brings. I also agree that we have become far too consumed by the accumulation of “things” (of which I, too, am a culprit). Material things bring us momentary happiness, until the novelty wears off - and we are consumed by the next thing. So goes the cycle of unfulfillment and materialism. It reminds me of a quote by Socrates:

 “Contentment is natural wealth; luxury is artificial poverty”.

Now, I am not trying to say that we should all burn our money and live solely off edible plants and game. But we could certainly try harder to look after what we have, to make it last; to give away what we do not need to those who do; and find joy in the simple, free things in life. Knowing, that we cannot take our new iPhone or fancy car to the grave - and that they will never love you back.

Where I believe Alex went wrong, and what could have prevented his ultimate demise, was his belief that human connection was not necessary for a truly whole, fulfilled life. He maintained this delusion until later in his Alaskan Adventure. But really, it was the kindness and community that he encountered along the way which carried him - from the nomadic couple that lived in their RV, to the farmer who gave him a job, to the old man who took him in and offered wise counsel. It was not until he was truly isolated, living out of an abandoned bus, that he had the profound epiphany that a full life is not enjoyed in isolation.

I, too, used to share this idea - that I could be happy living a life in solitude, as long as I had my dogs and open spaces, I would lack nothing. Unlike Chris, I had a wonderful childhood and grew up in a happy family with great friends who loved me. This idea was not borne out of pain, but preference (or so I thought). I have simply always enjoyed my own company. It is not uncommon for me to brave new experiences, adventures or events on my own. If I want to do something but have no one to join me, I don’t let that hold me back. It’s become easy, even exciting, for me to step into new experiences and places and figure it out as I go. However, like Alex, I have always found myself among people wherever I go.

Recently, I booked a ticket to Ireland for two weeks. I had always wanted to go and decided to delay my dream no longer. Inspired by the journey of Charlie Walker, author of Roads that Echo, I decided I would bikepack through Ireland - alone.

To cut a long story short, I ended up hiring a car for the second half of the trip and driving up the Wild Atlantic way with a friend from Dublin (a story for another day). It was on day two, after finishing a big climb in the Wicklow mountains, that I was overwhelmed with emotion - for the scenery around me and the fulfilment of my dream - that I realized that there was no one to share that moment with. I made this trip in an uncertain time in my life, and I had hoped to gain clarity and direction, but this was not what I expected.

The reason I reference this moment is that I had the same epiphany as Charlie did after reclaiming his name,

and he made his final diary entry:

“Happiness is only real when shared”.

God did not design us to exist in isolation. Even though Adam walked with God in the Garden of Eden, he was still lonely — and God’s solution was Eve. In the end, may we spend more time in nature, resist the pull of materialism, and learn to do it all together — in community

"I have lived through much, and now I think I have found what is needed for happiness. A quiet secluded life in the country, with the possibility of being useful to people to whom it is easy to do good, and who are not accustomed to have it done to them; then work which one hopes may be of some use; then rest, nature, books , music, love for one's neighbour - such is my idea of happiness. And then, on top of all that, you for a mate, and children, perhaps - what more can the heart of a man desire?"

-Leo Tolstoy-