Challenges bring about the true nature within me. It alerts my body and mind, altering my state of being. It makes me feel so alive! …At those moments when I encounter a challenge, I become extremely aware of the deeper layers of my soul.
Wim Hof (Becoming The Iceman)
In Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, physical needs like food, water and warmth lay the foundation for existence. For maybe 99.9% of human history (and for a majority of humans still), every one of us struggled day-in, day-out for our very survival. It’s my belief that for most of us in the West with our belief in personal transport being a God-given right (looking at you Aucklanders!), having a guaranteed 3 meals a day we don’t have to source from soil or sea, an insulated home and roof over our heads and almost universal climate control has denied us the timeless psychological rewards of growing or finding our own food and water for example, or experiencing periods of exposure to the elements.
Barbaric right? Who would go back to those things?
But did you ever notice what the coolness of the breeze in your lungs or sun on your body does on a day when you didn’t want to get out of bed? Did your brain ever regret a cold shower? Or jogging (with a ‘silent j’) for 20 minutes?
This is to say nothing of the literal magic box we carry in our pocket (coming soon to an iris near you) which completely removes the need to ever again succumb to boredom and the creativity it evokes or a moment of mindfulness with nothing to distract you from the way your body, mind and heart feel. Don’t want to connect with friends in real life? No problem! And while we’re at it, don’t go asking a stranger for directions (it’s far too dangerous) or read a book to recieve the information in context (who has the time??).
The endgame of striving for this much convenience (cue every sci fi or dystopian book worth its salt) is to transcend to a virtual reality where we may finally escape the shackles of the worthless, mortal flesh suits we long to shed as well as the icky, cumbersome wild world and live entirely in Universal Mind. For ever and ever, amen.
But what if the body was the key to our deepest satisfaction and sense of purpose all along? A vessel for immortal spirit while it learned to grow and love? What if the greatest deception of the modern age is “mind over matter” and uploading our consciousness forevermore was just an upgrade of the nightmare labyrinth that capitalist consumerism has been?
I know what you’re thinking…what the hell else are we supposed to do? Walk daily into blizzards? Urban hunt-and-gather zones in Cornwall Park? Shacking down with street people? Sure, we might learn a thing or two about humility but I certainly can’t see myself succumbing to this extreme.
But what if we were to take even one step back in that direction? Toward appreciating the deep benefits for mind and body that inconveniencing them has? Bear with me!
The legions of Crossfitters, WimHoffers and urban yogis know what I’m talking about here. The hipsters like me who toss away their smartphones; those who bike to work or hike for pleasure, who since lockdown are taking bizarre amounts of joy out of producing kombucha, baked bread and veggie gardens and sticking it to Foodstuffs and Woolworths. The downsizing of big to tiny homes and the newfound desire to ask their neighbour (“What news from the north, dear fellow?”) instead of scrolling for it on the Herald App.
Could it just be a fad? Or a reflection of some deeper shrugging off of tricksy tools and clever conveniences; our beloved inventions which, like many advancements since the advent of agriculture merely push us further away from natural law, and leave us feeling empty and disconnected.
If I may, a few ideas follow which you might have raised your eyebrows at in recent years as they swell in popularity:
“Have you tried going for a run?” is hands down the worst advice of all time for someone depressed but – don’t we all know it?- the evidence is in. Inconveniencing ourselves is our natural mode of being and both body and mind rejoice in it, no matter what else they may have lived through.
jared lanigan 