⛺The Essential Gear
Hey Reader,
I’ve heard you want to spend more time away from screens, out in the nature?
I get it.
Even though I’ve been in and out of hospitals, crutches, and therapy this past year, I’ve used every excuse to go out. Forests, rivers, lakes, seas, mountains, and hillsides are always calling. In a year of COVID questions, nature has been my first answer.
Every week, I pack and unpack my various backpacks, deciding what to carry or leave behind. Since you’re curious, I want to share with the 5 essential pieces of gear I never go out without.
A love of everything that grows
I’ve an acquaintance who once said the only nature he appreciates is the one that’s been paved over with asphalt. I’ll never forget that joke because it's so alien to my way of thinking.
A curiosity about silence
Going out into the nature is a time of silence. Away from the roar of the city, the forest and the mountain speak another language. Yes, there’s the twittering of birds, and the hum of the wind, but all of that serves only one purpose - to help you look inward and meet the silence.
Comfort in discomfort
The modern society is an exercise in comfort. Every day, there’s a new product promising to decrease a discomfort you never even knew bothered you. Nature is a different exercise - one which promises to teach you not to mind the discomfort and delivers on that promise.
Respect for what and whom you encounter
Nature, which we poison, gives use everything we aren't grateful for.
I remember once hearing someone gush over the beauty of the Adriatic Sea, someone who relished their vacation away from the messy city. A moment later, he tossed a cigarette butt into the aforementioned beauty.
A sense of custodianship
Despite our collective delusion, the human animal does not own nature. We are a part of it and its custodian. It’s been around before us, and it will continue long after we’re gone. Might as well be at peace with it.
That's it. The grand total of the essential gear comes down to €0.00. It is a purchase that takes nothing but gives back everything. Money well spent.*
* Probably not available at your nearest store.
One Question
Do I need all the comforts I want?
Stay slow,
Marin
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Marin Mikulic
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