Conservation of Individual Resources

(Survival Aesthetics)

Learning basic survival and backpacking skills allows one to explore reality deeply. When the outer shells of technological assistance are stripped away, can you face the wilderness with confidence & appreciation?

Technology surrounds us like a bubble of comfort and stimulation. We begin to feel that technology is integral to our existence. This is true, in one sense, because technology has a defining role in our culture. The idea of setting technology aside and living without it is scary. Food and drink are available at every corner store and vehicles transport us through the digitized details of our day. Luckily, for most of our time here as humans we have lived close to the earth. Our bodies can cope with a wide spectrum of climatic conditions and we are capable of eating an astounding variety of things. Our minds are inventive, adaptive & resilient – capable of solving the most difficult of survival challenges.

Much can be learned from the former occupants of this land. Over thousands of years of testing the plants, animals, & local materials, they worked out the details of a comfortable existence. We are out of the groove of this lifestyle and blind to many of its prospects. Fortunately, our technological dependence also provides us with the capability to properly equip ourselves prior to launching into a wilderness retreat. We can arrive in confidence; equipped with superior tools (light, ultra-strong metals and fabrics) and armed with a vast written knowledge concerning the plants and animals we are likely to encounter.

Freedom comes when we are able to view technology as a useful combination of components within the framework of a particular lifestyle rather than an essential life support system that we would perish without. Refreshment comes with the knowledge that we are capable of experiencing beauty and satisfaction in either reality.

If we discard the bulk of our material burdens and slide up close to the earth, we come face to face with a separate reality. We find that infinity is not hidden in some nebulous concept of eternity or the vast distance between stars – infinity hides in the briefest of moments. We can pause in observation of an instant and find satisfaction and continuance.

This is survival.

Local North Central Texas Naturalist & Ecopoetist, Royce Milam takes you on a wild ride to the shores of wilderness ease and enjoyment.

Topics covered include:

Water