Day 30 : Walking in the Woods
It’s day 30 of my digital declutter experiment and today I want to talk about walking in the woods.
Few places in this world are more dangerous than home. Fear not, therefore, to try the mountain passes. They will kill care, save you from deadly apathy, set you free, and call forth every faculty into vigorous, enthusiastic action.
— John Muir
This quote seems particularly relevant at a time when the majority of us have spent more time at home in the past 6 months than ever before in our lives.
Fortunately nature is one of the things that has been the least affected by the COVID pandemic. While living through lockdown in New York City, escaping periodically to nearby hiking trails in Harriman State Park and Delaware Water Gap were one of the things that kept me sane.
A Walk in the Woods
There is no point in hurrying because you are not actually going anywhere. However far or long you plod, you are always in the same place: in the woods.
― Bill Bryson, A Walk in the Woods
I’ve always found spending time in nature to be a rejuvenating experience. There is something about a respite, however brief, from the chaos and clutter of everyday life that helps me find peace, clarity, and inspiration. Indeed some of my best ideas have come during long walks on a forest trail.
This past weekend I went for a short overnight backing trip along a section of the Pennsylvania Appalachian Trail. Recently I’ve been spending more time trail running than hiking. While the setting is generally the same, in my experience these are decidedly different activities that cultivate different states of mind.
Trail running requires not only extreme physical effort but also intense mental focus to navigate the twists and turns and roots and rocks at such a fast pace. For me this is similar to the state of flow achieved by playing a musical instrument. When fully engaged you are thinking of nothing else and when you stop its as if almost no time has passed. It’s useful for taking a break from your usual state of mind but does not necessarily lead to other breakthroughs or insights at that time.
Hiking, on the other hand, I find provides long stretches for the mind to relax and wander. This is the fertile ground of the idea garden. When given a break from text messages, emails, phone calls, TODO lists, errands, media, clutter, and just plain old noise your mind has unprecedented freedom to proactively integrate things you’ve learned in the past and build upon it to generate its own original concepts.
Fort(ress) of Solitude
In Digital Minimalism, Cal Newport talks about the importance of solitude. He defines solitude as a subjective state in which you’re isolated from input from other minds. The author even goes on to list the dangers of solitude deprivation which really has not been wholly possible at any other point in human history until now.
Based on this definition, I would argue that in our modern and hyper-connected digital worlds its becoming increasing more difficult (for me at least) to achieve the actual solitude required for this type of deep creative thinking.
This is one of the primary reasons I decided to embark on this 30 day exercise of decluttering my digital life. The goal being to find ways to more frequently tap into that level of deep creative thinking which is so easy for me to find when walking in nature but also to be able to harness its power in an office or at home.
Hiking Goes High Tech
This past weekend I also learned about the Guthook Guide app that has become popular with many thru-hikers on the Appalachian Trail. The application allows you to download maps, elevation profiles, detailed directions, and view user generated comments for offline use.
I have mixed feelings about this technology and especially the role of user generated social content playing a prominent role in what has traditionally been a decidedly low-tech pursuit — unless you count titanium cookware, ultra-light tents, and moisture wicking boxer briefs.
The pros of the app include having access more accurate location data (to the meter) and more recent information about trail conditions. For example, if another user has commented that the spring 4 miles ahead is dry, I should probably pump extra water now to last me until the next shelter. Great.
Of course there is the possibility to become obsessed with mileage, time, and elevation to the point where the experience becomes more math equation than exploration. But the main con I can see is a decline in communication with fellow hikers.
There is the possibility to become obsessed with mileage, time, and elevation to the point where the experience becomes more math equation than exploration.
When I hiked the Hundred-Mile Wilderness in the summer of 2000 one of the things I enjoyed most was the sense of community on the trail. We looked forward to meeting fellow hikers — especially those headed in the opposite direction. Besides checking in on each other’s physical condition and general wellbeing, such encounters would almost always lead to a conversation about the trail features “up ahead” and what to watch out for. These so called “up ahead” conversations can now be replaced by the detailed app data and/or user submitted comments.
On one hand there will like be way fewer wrong turns, but also fewer conversations between fellow hikers. To me this is a net loss for the community.
I’m not the only one with mixed feelings about the app. According to another thru-hikers account of full on Guthook addiction these are concerns worth thinking about before adopting a new technology just because we can.
At this point I am checking Guthook frequently. I used to know my pace almost down to the minute. In previous weeks I would have known within a 15-minute window when I would arrive at the shelter. Now I can barely remain present. During the last two miles mountain laurel bushes veil any view of the shelter and I compulsively check the app.
— To Guthook or Not to Guthook, Elise Wallace
Just like with many new things born out of tech, there is some good, there is some bad, but ultimately it’s a distinctly different experience.
All Good Things
Now that it has come to the final day of my month-long digital declutter I’m starting to reflect on my experience over this past month. Just like app-driven backpacking — there was some good and some bad, but overall the past 30 days were a distinctly different experience.
My next post will be the last post in this series. It will focus on my lessons learned over the past 30 days and what aspects from this month of abstaining from “optional” technology I plan to keep with me moving forward.
