Glory Ho

“What makes people want to go to a place where there is such little protection?” asked the actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, when contemplating the book, Into the Wild, by John Krakow.

This book is the true story of Chris McCandless, a twenty something who ventures into the Alaskan wilderness for a self-sustained life. It’s a fascinating read and a well-told story. And I think most readers are either a) dying to know what prompts an accepted, educated, well-cared-for soul to abandon the comforts and safety of society for unknown and potentially perilous wooded environs and/or b) have these same desires themselves.

I read it years ago, when I not only found it on Michael’s shelf, but also found out that his ex-girlfriend, Shelly, was Chris McCandless’s sister.

But Philip Seymour Hoffman’s got a point.

And now, as we plan our post-Peace Corps travel and words like Sudan and Syria are surfacing, he’s made me think about what we’re doing. When it’s part of everyone’s scientific composition to fight to stay alive; when even those thrashing in violence, poverty and oppression kick and scream to breathe, why would we place ourselves in a patch of earth where such little armor, save an embassy, is available?

Maybe it’s to feel something deeper than our overprotected American lives typically allow.

Maybe it’s to prove that sometimes, often, the authoritative, political, or journalistic voices we hear are only covering their asses.

Maybe it’s to make certain that we never fall into that trap of going through the motions.

Maybe it’s to make us go running back to America.

We may be crazy. But it just may be a couple of lunatics that the world is looking for. . .

I honestly don’t know. I only know that Michael and I both share this desire. And together, I’m sure we’ll be just fine.