Up Close and Personal

Do you feel like something is missing from your life? On paper it might look great: You have a good job, a good family, a good home, and yet…you can’t seem to embrace that inner peace. Have you ever considered that the bombardment of emails, texts, Zoom rooms, FaceTime, Facebook, TikTok, Instragram, Twitter, podcasts and all their distant relatives might affect your serenity or lack thereof?

No one can doubt that the technological advances of the last 50 years have been a boon to society, but they’ve brought a downside. What if all the time you spend on social media was spent actually interacting with family or friends—as in up close and personal? We believe there’s no better way to connect with people and find inner peace than to take a walk in the woods. An ancient Chinese proverb says it best: “Nature, time and patience are the three great physicians.”

Long before the advent of computers and the products and industries they spawned, naturalist and environmentalist John Muir, born in 1838, recognized that busy city life could distract the mind to a person’s detriment. “And into the forest I go,” he said, “to lose my mind and find my soul.”

Even Greek philosopher Pythagoras, born more than 2,000 years ago, knew it. “Leave the road, take the trails,” he recommended.

Can you do it? Can you leave the smartphone and other devices behind to spend a few days in the wilderness, with an expert guide to lead you and keep you safe? Can you take a page from John Muir and find your soul (perhaps also known as “inner peace”)? It could be a life-changing experience or just a way to decompress and re-energize. And maybe, just maybe, you’ll find a way to refocus on people—up close and personal.