I met an inspiring person yesterday named Shaun. He had been living out of his old crusty Winnebago camper van for 15 years. He’s in his late 30s. Lives on $8/day. Ignores society for the most part. Very happy dude.
This is a lifestyle I pseudo-tried for a year (with my minivan) but realized I wasn’t cut out for it. I felt anchorless, without a mission. It just became an anxiety-fest. I couldn’t handle not having a basecamp. Felt like an astronaut cut from the ship. Too much time to sit in my brain.
I asked Shaun if he ever gets anxiety. He said never. I asked what he does each day.
“My only goal is to do one fun thing each day, outdoors,” he said.
That’s the golden ticket right there. A) having a goal. B) doing it outdoors.
Nature is legitimate medicine. It gives you that vantage point to witness how absurd the modern world is: the Facebook popularity contests, the Instagram metrics, the sports stadiums filled with 50,000 screaming people, the traffic where we sit motionless and breathe toxic air.
If chipmunks and squirrels and deer had to worry about Instagram metrics, they would run directly in front of a fucking bus (on purpose this time).
Don’t get me wrong, civilization is awesome. But our DNA is still programmed for nature. And without nature we lose our baseline and reference point for true peace.
I know this might sound like hippie bullshit, but when’s the last time you felt worse after a walk near a body of water?
In the modern world our medicine is Zoloft, Prozac, Sports, spreadsheets, stocks, caffeine, etc.
In nature, the medicine is merely to exist, to breathe. Nature is the great detox. The true brain medicine.
I’m not usually that great at keeping my brain at peace, so everyday I’m making a plan to do one thing in nature. We have an expansive (and free) park system at our fingertips.
This week on the podcast, I bring you the complete opposite of peace and nature: touring the DIY Punk Circuit. This should serve as a reminder of how not to live ;) Myles Coyne guests and has lived a weird life on the road. Hear below.
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Keep the peace,
Newski
