Date: 2005-03-06
To: Philosophy and Recreation
Miles today: 0.0

It¢s Sunday evening and I only have 5 days till my rebirth. By rebirth I mean I will have a totally new and strange lifestyle, which I am very unaccustomed to. Yes, this does scare me a little, though I try to repress those thoughts [being the tough college football player that I am supposed to be]. I mean GA-MA is a hell of a long way. I¢ve never even driven to Maine; how am I supposed to walk there? The only section of the trail that I have hiked was last year when I hiked from Newfound Gap to the top of Clingmans Dome. I made it what I thought would be a nice relaxing overnight trip. It was unquestionably harder than I was expecting. We might have covered One mile per hour!! I didn¢t die, but is that really what I want to do for the next 5 months, without even mentioning the physical condition that I am in right now. That¢s enough negative train of thought. But what fascinates me about the idea of a thru hike is the simplicity: Hike, Sleep, and Eat. Really I will have nothing to occupy my mind except when I¢m going to stop walking, and what I¢m going to eat next. I think this will free my mind to explore my thoughts in an infinite number of directions. I am leaving no bills, debt, wife, or kids. Hell I even gave the title of my truck to my dad and said he could sell it (It gets terrible gas mileage anyway). I have enough money to liberally cover my expenses. I just don¢t want to have anything weighing on my mind. I only have to call a few people who care about me once a week or so.   I love to learn and wish I had or made more time to read. I also enjoy my personal time, and I think it will be even more meaningful than time spent reading. I think it is critical to reflect or analyze or question as much as you can. You wouldn¢t write a business plan and never look at it again. What is the use of your life if you do not take the time to reflect on it? Didn¢t Socrates say something like: An unexamined life is no life at all (don¢t quote me on that one. haha)? I am looking at this trip as my walk of self discovery, and I am starting with a clean slate (my journal) to record and assist in my philosophy.Back in my college years (last year) I studied recreation and leisure, and no one every really looks as if they understand what it is that I¢ve been learning these last 5 12 years. My best response is that ¢I majored in having good times!¢ But really it is more about teaching other people what the possibilities of their free time are, and how they can best use that time for quality leisure pursuits. Recreation is not P.E.! And its not forestry! One of the most fascinating epiphanies I had was the word recreation itself. Recreation or RE-creation or to create yourself anew. Recreation is a median to be or do whatever it is that you want. Sadly the study of leisure and recreation are much underappreciated in our modern educated hyper-consumer business-driven society. Many studies have shown that what you do in your free time determines the quality of your life, not how much money you have! Or how good looking you are! or your marriage, your house, car, or even your kid! I believe your life is what you make it and if you deny the critical aspect of leisure it can adversely affect all aspects of you life. With the help of this fascinating field of study many people¢s lives have improved, well at least mine has! One day I hope that I can go on to farther expand my understanding and to add to the knowledge of the study of recreation by working on my doctorate.