Are You Secure?
“Make a radical change in your lifestyle and begin to boldly do things which you may previously never have thought of doing, or been too hesitant to attempt. So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservation, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future.”
— Jon Krakauer, Into the Wild
I keep a rolled-up maroon sleeping bag at the edge of my bed, against the wall. It has shiny material on the outside, and you might think of it as a decorative bolster pillow (that doesn’t match the comforter, except in the strange way that maroon looks good against charcoal). Maybe it’s a very short body pillow; equally strange.
But that’s not it. I bought the sleeping bag in North Carolina in the fall of 2016, for $80, so I could get outdoors and go camping. I think I went camping once, in October, at Hanging Rock State Park, when I got to the campground too late, and couldn’t figure out how to assemble the “pop-up tent” by the light of my car headlights, and so I finally gave in and used the unassembled tent as my ground cloth.
Thankfully, it didn’t rain that night and thankfully there were hot showers at the campground’s bathroom facilities the next morning.
That’s the last time I used that sleeping bag.
I have it with me in California now, and I wonder if my subconscious mind purchased it at the Dick’s Sporting Goods in Durham, and packed it for the trip West (when other far less bulky items were discarded), as some kind of talisman, as a reminder that I’m going to be okay, no matter what.
If I happen to lose everything tomorrow, I know I can always put that rolled-up maroon sleeping bag under my arm, or atop my rollerboard suitcase, braced against the extended black handle, and I will have something to sleep in no matter where I go.
I will make a pillow rolling up my hoodie sweatshirt and I will lay down in whatever place I find myself, completely at home.
(Excerpt from The Light Within: Taking Care of Each Moment with Acceptance, Enjoyment and Enthusiasm, © Jon Obermeyer, 2020)
Photo credit: The Camper’s Arsenal
