For 2024 Pilgrims: €50,- donation = 1 year with no ads on the forum + 90% off any 2024 Guide. More here. (Discount code sent to you by Private Message after your donation) |
---|
Oh you have really understated how 'remote' she is - Stehekin (stuh-HEE-kin) is a day-long ferry ride up Lake Chelan, and sometimes they have to evacuate the entire town due to forest fires. I suspect the polar icecap station has better communication with civilization.The part that resonated with me is the following:
I think that this article covers a certain amount of the peregrino's mental landscape as well.
About what? The essay itself - call it a meditation if you will - or the part you have quoted without context.Other views?
Only by some stretch of the imagination, but drawing analogies is what people do. It seems more likely to be analogous to the perspectives that a hospitalero might have as they reflect on the pilgrims they have served than an understanding any pilgrim might have of their own experience.I think that this article covers a certain amount of the peregrino's mental landscape as well.
Ana Maria Spagna would probably label herself as an "Outdoorsy" individual. Her resume includes published writer, teacher, and ex-trail maintenance boss for the national parks system. Today she lives in a remote part of Washington state, only accessible by a daily ferryboat and with limited power and internet access.
Her meditation on Cheryl Strayed and the book Wild reflects her personal ambiguity about what defines "accomplishment". I think that this article covers a certain amount of the peregrino's mental landscape as well.
The part that resonated with me is the following:
"...Outdoorsy types took issue with her unpreparedness. Backpacking, after all, depends on careful planning. The sheer number of gadgets and tricks to reduce pack weight constitutes a regular OCD candy shop. Even if you lean sloppy, as I always had, it takes time and intention, as well as cash and ingenuity, to learn what you need to carry, what you don’t, and it takes time and commitment to get in shape for a long trek. Strayed, they said, hadn’t even tried. I tried to mention how often we saw unprepared hikers in the woods, every single day, and how none of them died. If they suffered, they brought home a good story. Just like Strayed did. "
Other views?
- Jason
Other views?
Well, she wrote a book for public consumption and discussion.Why the need to judge or one-up her?
Cheryl Strayed clearly described herself as a mental basket case. She did not recommend her actions to anyone else. She made spontaneous decisions and sometimes suffered the consequences for them. I didn't see anyone else being inconvenienced or put at risk for what she did. Her story was interesting to read.
Why the need to judge or one-up her?
I'm an experience backpacker and mountain climber, and yeah, I saw a lot of stupid things that she did. She pointed many of them out, herself. She also had a history of drug addiction, careless promiscuity and obviously needed counseling to stop obsessing on her mother's death. There are a ton of books about and written by people like that. I guess it's okay to weigh in on her actions, and I'm sorry to hear that apparently there were a lot of people who didn't "consider the source" and tried to emulate her adventure. I hope they don't read books about serial killers next!
A landscape painting does not have to be realistic to be a good piece of art, and it would be foolish to confuse it with a map.
Certainly there may be many reasons for valid criticism - my comments were cast in the framework created in the essay - itself a piece of art that does not need to reflect all of reality to make its points.I agree with what you say @dougfitz, with the exception of the conclusion that criticism of the inaccuracies is "simply an expression of jealousy" - there could be many other reasons. But you are absolutely right.
A landscape painting does not have to be realistic to be a good piece of art, and it would be foolish to confuse it with a map.
Subtle difference between "discussion" and "judge".Well, she wrote a book for public consumption and discussion.
I rather thought Ana Maria Spagna's essay was less about Cheryl Strayed and more about the nature of ambition and following one's own ambitions, not being jealous of someone else's. ...
True, there is a difference. But surely she would expect people to judge her book.Subtle difference between "discussion" and "judge".
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?