A Logical Succession of Events: Hike Trail, Write Book
It has been ten weeks flat, that's two and a half months, since K-Day, as we called the day we hiked Katahdin.
I have sufficiently bummed around at incredibly disconcerting levels and am unfortunately still unemployed because I am incapable of both disconnecting my work from the health of my spirit and allowing the latter to crush the former. But if something comes of these recent interviews then turning down a high-paying, degree-using, soul-sucking job or two won't seem like such a mistake as it does right now.
Regardless, I have had a lot of time on my hands and I have reverted back to my old love of writing in order to fill it. I spent a little amount of time writing about a large amount of subjects while on the trail and now I have flipped that over to spending a large amount of time writing about a particular subject.
If you've been keeping up with the blog then you probably have noticed the recent short stories. At first these started out as wanting to expand on memories from the trail for my own benefit. Then I realized that not only was the writing soothing my mind and helping me transition back into regular life more smoothly, but it was really shaping up into something. These individual stories were building up into the sequential journey that was my trail experience.
That was when I decided to go all in with it. I had been asking myself, "If I do get a job, if I do settled down here for a while, what am I going to 'do' with myself?!" Writing was my answer. "I am going to write a book!" I told myself. Maybe it will actually become something one day or maybe it will just be one of those things where a few self published copies float around my family for a couple of generations. Nonetheless, here I am now, moping around the foreign land of 'Home', trying to not forget the life I lived in the wilderness while simultaneously attempting to fit in again and maybe this is my Rosestta Stone, my bridge back to normalcy. If nothing else, it's a fun hobby with a neat pay off.
______________
Also, It's possible because its been done before. Long before hiking the trail I picked up a book by Zach David called Appalachian Trials. Besides writing this book that helped me and many other hikers I know prepare for the toughest parts of the trail, Zach, also a thru hiker, keeps a blog as well. I sought out his advice on how to take on such a feat as writing a book. This is our correspondence. Thanks for the time, Zach!
http://blog.appalachiantrials.com/a-2013-appalachian-trail-thru-hiker-success-story-rainbow-braid/
I have sufficiently bummed around at incredibly disconcerting levels and am unfortunately still unemployed because I am incapable of both disconnecting my work from the health of my spirit and allowing the latter to crush the former. But if something comes of these recent interviews then turning down a high-paying, degree-using, soul-sucking job or two won't seem like such a mistake as it does right now.
Regardless, I have had a lot of time on my hands and I have reverted back to my old love of writing in order to fill it. I spent a little amount of time writing about a large amount of subjects while on the trail and now I have flipped that over to spending a large amount of time writing about a particular subject.
If you've been keeping up with the blog then you probably have noticed the recent short stories. At first these started out as wanting to expand on memories from the trail for my own benefit. Then I realized that not only was the writing soothing my mind and helping me transition back into regular life more smoothly, but it was really shaping up into something. These individual stories were building up into the sequential journey that was my trail experience.
That was when I decided to go all in with it. I had been asking myself, "If I do get a job, if I do settled down here for a while, what am I going to 'do' with myself?!" Writing was my answer. "I am going to write a book!" I told myself. Maybe it will actually become something one day or maybe it will just be one of those things where a few self published copies float around my family for a couple of generations. Nonetheless, here I am now, moping around the foreign land of 'Home', trying to not forget the life I lived in the wilderness while simultaneously attempting to fit in again and maybe this is my Rosestta Stone, my bridge back to normalcy. If nothing else, it's a fun hobby with a neat pay off.
______________
Also, It's possible because its been done before. Long before hiking the trail I picked up a book by Zach David called Appalachian Trials. Besides writing this book that helped me and many other hikers I know prepare for the toughest parts of the trail, Zach, also a thru hiker, keeps a blog as well. I sought out his advice on how to take on such a feat as writing a book. This is our correspondence. Thanks for the time, Zach!
http://blog.appalachiantrials.com/a-2013-appalachian-trail-thru-hiker-success-story-rainbow-braid/
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