The Change-Personal Narrative

The Change-Personal Narrative

The New Year filled me with the desire to pursue new adventures. Like most

people, I became consumed in the January resolution ritual of making promises of

changing my life, but retreating from them as March approaches. But I decided to carry

through with my commitments this year. Three of my closest friends and I decided to

challenge ourselves after days of relaxation in the safety and shelter of civilization and to

return to the isolation of the wilderness. Despite the nobility of our quest we were forced

to bring along miniature symbols of the world we were leaving for basic survival such as a

propane stove, expensive sleeping bags, and two light weight tents. A eighteen mile

overnight adventure through the isolated reign of nature was our goal. We chose a trail

around Tawas about a three hour's drive from our houses, it was the best we could find

on such short notice.

A classic here-goes-nothing like return to nature is the only true way to fully

understand your belongings and grasp the overwhelming majestic beauty of nature. I

didn't realize how hard it would be to tear apart from civilization this last weekend, it

greatly affected my conceptualization of the powerful world we live in. Looking up at the

evening sky and observing a broad expanse of thick clusters of stars, without artificial

light, breathing in cold, fresh, and pure air, absent contaminated, and seeing no signs of

humanity only solemn nature is as a moving and uplifting experience. Too often today's

civilization becomes obsessed and entrenched in modernization and technology that it

forgets and neglects its roots.

We departed from the electric lights, indoor plumming, and computer-controlled

heated env...

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... uncertainty, and wilderness I reflected upon what we had achieved. One last time I

admired in awe the huge steep hills that we had traveled, that we had conquered. The

challenge had drained life from me-- every muscle in my body was strained and now was

stiff and rigid. It also filled me with an insatiable desire to return-only for longer and

farther. Perhaps it's the solitude and isolation that allows you to reflect upon where we've

come in life, or placing your survival in the hands of your friends or theirs in yours, but

that short and difficult journey changed me. Upon reflection, I whole-heatedly agree with

Robert Frost:

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

It has made all the difference in the world to me.