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I am a 50ish guy in Portland. I spend less time outside than my parents but way more time in the wilds than they did as adults. However, my kids spend far less time than I did at their age in the outdoors-- due, I think to their having cell phones, an entire culture on-line (games, chat, facebook, Itunes, YouTube... the list goes on), and cable TV, none of which I had as a child. I personally do not need any new/sophisticated/luxury/additional amenities in the outdoors. I will not tell you my favorite place in Oregon because it is off the trail, it is not "signed", and it is within a wilderness. It is my sanctuary, and I have to walk about 4 miles into it in rugged terrain after driving a while to get to the traihead. I have spent a lot of time in my early adulthood in the very wild outdoors, and I consider this a defining part of my life, so much so that I consider myself an adherent of deep ecology and of the Sacred Wild school of thought that has been well described by Gary Snyder. I have had experiences in the outdoors that many many people I have described this to did not imagine were possible. I spend very little time in developed parks, althoug I walk regularly in Tryon Creek which is in my neigborhood. In conclusion though I would like to make a point: for me the outdoors and the wild is culture. Very much of my life is guided by my connection to wild culture (i.e. the outdoors). I have a perspective on life that makes me at ease, centered, comforted and not alone due to my membership in the bigger world of wild culture. It provides a buffer and a large-scale alternative against the influences, distractions, noise of the popular culture thrust upon us by media and technocracy.

Thanks

posted 5 years ago
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