Start your immersion program, now!13thApril
Why would someone do a full time wilderness skills program? You take a long time from your life, you pay a-lot of money and many of the skills shouldn't need to be learned as they're simply our birthright.
The latter is most important. Through the gorgeous saga of evolution, you're hardwired to do the things Trackers teaches: from starting a fire with no matches to working in a community and village. Our bodies, minds and hearts know how to do these things, they've known it for millions of years. Unfortunately our 10000 year old modern culture does not. It delivers a completely different message: four walls, twelve to twenty years of being graded and the inundation by an ever growing body of instantly obtainable goods. These things wear down even our most natural tendencies, they break a spirit that is very real.
Every time we try to step outside that box, someone eventually tells us, "No!" This holds true for the child playing in the mud or not having enough time to go walk down the creek with your friends when the boss wants you to work on Saturday.
The real purpose of a full time wilderness skills program is not to simply teach a body of skills, its to have group of people (a family) always saying "Yes!" Whatever transpires, everyone makes a commitment for one year to support one another. They agree to stave off the outside assault, one that coerces us to not connect to the world around us. Believe me, its hard work. In fact, the people that most often criticize the value of it are the ones simply passing through my family or community with no intentions of sticking around. They only ask, "What can you do for me?"
So think about these emails as my weekly, "Yes!" Do what your body, heart and mind were designed to do. Sure, holding that space is hard. But I have plenty of my friends who even managed do it without an immersion program.
Your persrciption: Go outside. Hang out with the squirrels for a couple minutes. Light a campfire in wet conditions. Get a snake. Go collect stinging nettles. Come to our taster days (shameless pitch here) or get some friends to go hiking in the woods with and tell your boss you are absolutely not working Saturday.
Oh, and when you really need someone to say yes, email me at tony@trackersnw.com I'll answer with just that. Plus, I'll likely urge you to go do something fun, adventurous and slightly insane in the out of the doors.
