Into the Wild, part 2

Work today was canceled due to rain, so I slept in, like I always do. I'm such a lazy bastard. After a shower around noon I left the house to make a deposit at the bank. I bought dinner for my mom's birthday (Korean food, naturally) and my sister paid me back. I don't have much money left in the bank right now so I really need to stop all spending. Unfortunately I need gas soon.
I went to Barnes and Noble to finish reading Into the Wild, by Krakauer. It's a pretty amazing tale, but the more I read about McCandless' relationships with his family, the less romantic his journey seemed to me. He was very selfish and arrogant, however nice he was to the few friends he made across the country. I understand the love of exploring nature alone. I spent several days alone hiking the Austrian Alps without a jacket and sometimes without water. It wasn't 'the wild' because I never intended to sleep out-of-doors and at the end of the day I could eat in comfort at a local restaurant and sleep in my hostel bed. But I know a little of the joy of hiking.
I would love to go hiking for a week or two, and I'm jealous of McCandless' ability to just get up and go. He followed his dream. He wanted to truly live, and he chose to live on the outskirts rather than live a life he viewed as sterile and fake. He didn't get very far off the beaten trail in Alaska, but he isolated himself and managed to live off the land for over 100 days. Here are two passages McCandless wrote / underlined in his journal.
"I am reborn. This is my dawn. Real life has just begun. Deliberate Living: Conscious attention to the basics of life, and a constant attention to your immediate environment and its concerns, example -> A job, a task, a book; anything requiring efficient concentration (Circumstance has no value. It is how one relates to a situation that has value. All true meaning resides in the personal relationship to a phenomenon, what it means to you).
The Great Holiness of FOOD, the Vital Heat. Positivism, the Insurpassable Joy of the Life Aesthetic.
Absolute Truth and Honesty. Reality. Independence. Finality - Stability - Consistency."
(From Tolstoy's Family Happiness)
"He was right in saying that the only certain happiness in life is to live for others....
I have lived through much, and now I think I have found what is needed for happiness. A quiet secluded life in the country, with the possibility of being useful to people to whom it is easy to do good, and who are not accustomed to have it done to them; then work which one hopes may be of some use; then rest, nature, books, music, love for one's neighbor - such is my idea of happiness. And then, on top of all that, you for a mate, and children, perhaps - what more can the heart of a man desire?"
Before he died McCandless wrote a note: I HAVE HAD A HAPPY LIFE AND THANK THE LORD. GOODBYE AND MAY GOD BLESS ALL!
If he had finally realized that a happy life is one spent living for others, than to die in the Alaskan wilderness (barely qualifying as wilderness to Alaskans) alone is a tragic waste of life, especially given his background and loving family who he shunned for his last 2-3 years. I think everyone would benefit from going off by themselves for a while to discover who they are. Getting lost in the majesty, grandeur, and beauty of nature is important for a healthy spiritual life. Yet recognizing the harshness and danger in nature helps us to keep our small lives in perspective, humbling us.
The rest of my time in the bookstore was spent in the gardening section. I've been dreaming of growing my own kitchen garden. The nature section wasn't the place to look, although that's where I found Krakauer's book. Practical, how-to advice is all in the gardening section. However, I am low on disposable income, and likely will not be here next year, so I can't start my gardening days here, no matter how much I would like to. I will elaborate on my back to nature, get off the grid, simple lifestyle plans later. Our furnace apparently isn't working, which makes me want to crawl back in bed. I'm going to try to practice instead.