My facebook status a few days ago was "kyle needs to find the woods." Reading my last post compared to this facebook status could seem a bit confusing. To make it easy separate the two ideas. It's not the same metaphor. I've changed my blog title which also may add to the confusion. I probably should have spent my first post explaining the idea of the blog and the woods metaphor. So, let me now explain...
I love the woods. I love being in the woods; I love looking at pictures of the woods; I love to think in the woods and let the natural sounds and silence envelop me in its soft overcoat. Furthermore, many other people in history have felt the same way. Specifically, Thoreau and the transcendentalists, but there are others as well. This being said, the woods are my temporal and symbolic place I like to use to refer to my introspection and the journey of finding myself. I'm by no means a pantheist, but I do believe that God is in the woods. I haven't thought about it enough to have a definite idea, but I know that God is there, and the silence and peacefulness that the forest pervades brings one closer to the Creator than anything created by the creation.
The post I wrote the other day used the woods in a general sense to explain the state I was in at the time. I felt lost. I felt stranded. I haven't been motivated for life in a while. I had gotten bogged down in junk, in trash, in the world. I am not one to say that a person should forget all of society and retreat into obscurity in order to purify his soul of the world, but there is a certain gunky residue that one must deal with when he loses himself in the desires of the flesh. I do this too often, and the result is this feeling of profound gunkiness. The muck that clings to me leaves me with a confused and cloudy feeling. And consequently it leaves me with a hunk of apathy. Apathy towards myself, toward others, toward God. Above most things that I can't stand is apathy. I hate when others are apathetic, especially Christians, and I hate when I become this way as well. I can't stand being unmotivated and stuck in the mud. This blog is a way for me to loose some of those chains, clean off some of that muck and get my head a little clearer. In the coming days and months, I will share my life, my mind and my soul. I hope that you find this journey pleasant.
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Kyle! First of all, how's it going? Haven't seen you in awhile. Second, your first two posts are really cool, not gonna lie. I'm interested in reading more. I saw you plug this on facebook and I thought I'd leave a comment. You should also check out my blog (click my name), although there's no place to comment.
ReplyDeleteOk, so maybe I should comment on the content of your post. First, the woods are really cool. I spent this past Saturday morning sitting in the woods next to a lake. All I had with me was a Bible, notebook, pen and nature. Those few hours were incredibly refreshing.
Second, I think we all have times of no motivation. And even when I do good things, I feel like I have the wrong motivation (you know - "look at me, I do good things" attitude). I'm excited to see your answers in future posts to this apathetic lifestyle we often have...