so, tonight {on the couch + under a blanket} we watched another episode of Human Planet. in a word: incredible. seriously awe-inspiring. thank you, BBC. granted, we tend to geek out about Planet Earth + the arrival of our monthly National Geographic issue in the mail. but this is seriously good. do yourself the favor of checking it out, if you have the opportunity.
One of the many things I love about this program is the chance to watch people whose lives are undistractedly focused on survival, on the here + now. no time to worry about the future: today's concerns are enough. and certainly no time to worry about new clothes or facebook or what my life will be in a year + a half, and enough already with politics and the dow jones.
the summer after i graduated college, i spent 45 days sleeping in a tent in the wilds of NW Canada. it was surely one of the most amazing experiences of my life, and as i think back on it, i can't help but almost miss the undivided focus on each day's tasks: cooking + eating, not losing anything, paddling x miles to point b, packing + unpacking, sleep. it took a while to get used to the pace + to just be, but by the end it was scary to face the reality of going back to the real world.
i'm not sure how to recreate that focus, that here/now-ness that i experienced and that i witness on Human Planet, in the lives of people living in the remote corners and peaks and jungles of the earth. but i am convinced that there is LIFE in that perspective + way of life. and for a glimpse + reminder of that tonight, i am thankful.
katie anne
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