One of the central concepts and keys to happiness is story.
On an individual level life is about living your story, creating your legacy. On a collective level it is about sharing and telling stories to connect with and inspire each other.
One of our ultimate goals as human beings is to be present. If you can find presence in a moment, then you are experiencing enlightenment. If you can find presence in every moment, then you have achieved enlightenment.
All the modern self-help gurus are saying it. It's all over social media. It's such a simple concept - yet it seems so far, far away. The past and present are always lurking in the shadows of our mind.
Even though there is a lot of life left in me, I feel I have mastered both story and presence. I have experienced countless adventures and genuine human connections, and written enough chapters to make an incredible story. I can look back and say I lived a full life. And if I died today I would die happy.
And within those stories I have given myself time to be present.
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| Meditation, on top of cultivating presence, has many proven scientific benefits |
Time and space are the basic ingredients of our existence - they also form the prerequisites for presence. This is what is meant by giving yourself solitude - give yourself time and space. Time away from obligations and commitments. Space away from familiar surroundings and in nature.
While small tidbits of solitude are helpful, they only serve to temporarily mitigate the burnout most of us are living today. The most effective long lasting solitude comes from deep immersion in to adventure, retreat and pilgrimage. It's simple math - more time and space = more solitude = deeper immersion. So give yourself as big a block of time and space as possible by going on a big escape!
I have gone on a 3 week long foray into the forest mushroom-picking, a 2 week long sailing adventure, a 10-day meditation retreat, several 5-day treks into the mountains, and countless multi-day treks and hikes into nature. I traveled for months at a time, spent entire summers on the road. I lived by myself in a cabin in the woods for 4 months for a construction job. I have gone on a few cycle-touring adventures... but nothing like this.
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| Trekking in the secluded highlands of Peru |
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| Discovering eastern mysticism in India |
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| Morel picking in the Yukon |
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| Relaxing after a grueling backcountry mountaineering adventure |
I just completed my grandest adventure yet. I went cycle touring for exactly 2 months, riding 4500 km, covering about half the length of Canada. I lived an amazing story, filled with many mini-stories. I connected with, inspired, and received kindness from lots of people. I rode through relentless hot and cold, wind and rain, camped behind churches and schools, snuck into and slept in sheds and gazebos. I witnessed beautiful mountains and skies, blazing sunsets, clear blue lakes, spotted goats, bears and deer.
I made a pilgrimage back to my hometown. A pilgrimage of my home country. I saw Canada in its vast existence. I appreciated every bit of it I saw, from the endless Prairie fields of wheat, to its lakes and mountains, to its bustling cities.
I was challenged to wit's end. I overcame those challenges. I laughed and cried, felt overwhelming joy. I saw in 2 months what many people don't see in a lifetime. And despite all that I saw, the most I gained was from all that time in-between seeings things - that time spent on the bike seat not seeing anything at all. Where I had time and space away from everything, where I could be fully present.
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| Infinite beauty. Part 1: Mountains |
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| Found this guy's wallet! Part 2: Prairies |
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| Slept in a public bathroom. Part 3: Canadian Shield |
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| Connecting with community. Part 4: Home Stretch |
I found happiness. I found it through being present. I found this through giving myself time and space. I found these through going on adventure, retreat and pilgrimage.
I lived a great story. I am still writing my story, every day and every moment. There will be more adventures!
What about you? Have you lived your story? Is there a story you want to live? A particular adventure, retreat or pilgrimage? If not, start with some time and space in nature. Go for a slow walk in the woods, a forest bathe as the Japanese culture calls it. Time (and space) will tell.
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| 2 months on the bike. 2 months of presence |
