Keep Learning…

By Sean Fagan

A great man of the outdoors, John Muir (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

Above, one of my favourite John Muir photos.

Why?

Because he is well into his later years and still doing something he dearly loved doing - connecting with nature.

Even after a lifetime of engaging with nature he still found time to follow his own trails.

But how is this connected to bushcraft and adventure?

Technical Skills vs Inspiration

I like sharing information about the technical side of bushcraft and adventure.

Offering advice about outdoor gear and skills is interesting and more crucially, important.

With the right gear and skills we can slip into wild places - temporarily leaving behind our regular life so we can meld our beings into the timeless, reassuring rhythms of nature.

This merging is often tremendously liberating and almost invariably good for us - both mentally and physically.

But the quality of our outdoor excursions is often directly connected to how comfortable we make ourselves in nature.

Sleeping well, being accurate in our navigation, keeping ourselves well fed and hydrated, staying dry and warm when it’s cold or wet - are some of the fundamental, outdoor challenges that need to be competently overcome if we are to enjoy ourselves in nature.

As someone once said - "any fool can go to the woods and suffer".

But as much as I like to discuss the technical aspects of bushcraft and adventure I think it’s equally important to discuss the ‘why’ of being outdoors.

The ‘why' could include the inspiring reasons behind venturing outdoors.

Keep Learning....

As I've touched upon already, I really like the above John Muir photo.

Even after a lifetime of engaging with nature he was still out there, in old age, taking notes. He was still following his idle curiosity.

I find this greatly inspiring.

In a way, whenever we are exposed to wild places with minimal gear we become students of nature.

And I don’t mean that in a silly way. I mean it for two reasons.

Firstly, we're small in comparison to nature - we must learn how to go with the flow, which includes adapting to unforeseen challenges.

Learning to go with the flow in nature is not some vague, esoteric euphemism - it's partly about cultivating the awareness and experience to know when to push it or back off when exposed to the vagaries of nature.

Secondly, like students (and children) – we should fan the flames of curiosity within us for nature. Why? That's hard to comprehensively answer, but fundamentally nature is intrinsically intriguing to many of us on a very deep level.

And there is always something new to learn. Always.

It's well known that learning is good for us but in my opinion, learning through bushcraft and adventure is hard to beat.

Outdoor learning with our hands and heads is a brilliant combination. It's often honest, fulfilling work.

I know from my own experiences of living a very simple, minimalist life in nature that it is, at its best - a greatly enjoyable, organic existence (I'm not romantising here...nature can occasionally be stressful, dangerous and exhausting).

The overall gist of this blog can be summarised in a following points:

Nature is good for us - both physically and mentally.
Keep learning - there is no end to learning about nature (that includes how to live well in nature with minimal, basic gear).
Find ways to sustain your passion for nature and the outdoors (preferably for a lifetime, just like Muir).

I think David Attenborough and John Muir captured the essence of what I'm trying to convey with the following quotes:

“It seems to me that the natural world is the greatest source of excitement; the greatest source of visual beauty, the greatest source of intellectual interest. It is the greatest source of so much in life that makes life worth living.”

David Attenborough

"Keep close to Nature's heart...and break clear away, once in while, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. wash your spirit clean".

John Muir

Related articles on this website: