Have you ever wanted to just run away from everything?
Sell all your belongings, throw away that damn phone and move to an isolated location where no one can reach you?
I have.
I’m sure at some point you’ve felt like that too.
For me, it always happens when life starts to feel more complicated than it should.
When you realise you’re stuck in an endless cycle of living to work and working to live, only looking forward to the brief moments you get to escape this cycle on a beautiful beach somewhere.
But then you return, and life in all its chaos resumes.
Although we all say we’d love to just run away and give up the luxuries and seemingly endless pressure society has to offer, none of us ever actually do it.
Well, one guy actually did do it.
And I want to tell you about him.
A Search For Truth
“Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth.”
Chris McCandless
His name was Chris McCandless.
He donated his savings to charity, cut up the rest of his money, credit cards and ID, and set out on a journey across America under the alias ‘Alexander Supertramp.’
He was sick of expectations, materialism and a lack of connection with nature – basically the modern world.
After more than two years travelling across America, he decided to venture into the Alaskan wilderness, settling in an abandoned bus and living off nothing but the land around him.
He literally did the thing we’ve all dreamed of doing.
But the difference between the dream and the reality is the harshness of actually doing the thing.
He died in that same bus after about four months due to starvation.
All alone, away from society, as initially desired.
Happiness Is Only Real When Shared
Chris kept a journal during his adventures and would regularly jot down his thoughts and experiences.
What was most interesting about his journey was the change in his mindset from the initial stages until just before his death.
“You don’t need human relationships to be happy,” he says, “God has placed it all around us.”
He held as much disdain for relationships as he held for material objects.
But over the months this outlook changed.
One of the last things he wrote before he died, after four months alone, was “happiness is only real when shared.”
I won’t lie guys, at this point of the movie ya boy (me) had a few tears in his eyes.
So I ask you this… when you think of all the best memories in your life, are they often alone, or with other people?
I would assume most, if not all, of your fondest memories are during times you’ve been surrounded by others.
Mine are.
And if Chris, a man who was so vehemently sick of society and obsessed with the idea of solitude, wrote this as one of his final messages, then what does this say about solitude?
Solitude Is Not The End Goal
“A person is a person through other persons.”
Zulu Proverb
My relationship with solitude is constantly changing.
There have been times, much like in Chris’ thinking, where I’ve believed solitude to be the solution.
But I’m starting to see it as a simply a time to recharge so I have the physical and mental energy to experience the good bits again.
The good bits that are shared with others.
Whilst it can be great, at times, to lose sense of self, we can only truly feel human when we’re surrounded by other humans.
Aristotle says “man is by nature a social animal.”
Maybe if being social doesn’t feel natural for us, we’re hanging around the wrong animals.
I think we often forget societal pressures are only magnified through our own perceptions.
We don’t have to go to that job we hate, or live in that town we despise, but by doing so we get to avoid living in the wilderness and dying from starvation.
Things aren’t perfect.
Life is overcomplicated.
Days will be filled with things we don’t want to do.
But that’s the price we pay for living a life that’s pretty safe and comfy.
And whilst the alternative is fun to dream about, examples like this remind us just how unforgiving life actually is.
Happiness is only real when shared.
I highly encourage you to read the book or watch the movie – it’s called Into The Wild, and it will change your outlook on life, if only for a little while.
Thank you, Chris.
