Needing a word!

**crashdive123** · 02-21-2009, 09:48 AM

I guess I'm confused (my problem, not yours) about the goals of this Shadoran movement that you are attempting to start and gain popularity. It sounds as though you have the goal to ditch the modern trappings of life (I can understand the desire for that), but only to a certain extent. Your week ends will be fufilling prior obligations, you will have a car and computer, and after a period of time you will be traveling on an airliner to meet up with others in the US. It seems as though some of your plans will interfere with what I thought would be the goal of this movement that you are attempting to start, or at the very least the solo journey and self discovery that you are in quest of. Just trying to understand.

**The Shadoran Nomad** · 02-21-2009, 10:06 AM

Originally Posted by crashdive123

I guess I'm confused (my problem, not yours) about the goals of this Shadoran movement that you are attempting to start and gain popularity. It sounds as though you have the goal to ditch the modern trappings of life (I can understand the desire for that), but only to a certain extent. Your week ends will be fufilling prior obligations, you will have a car and computer, and after a period of time you will be traveling on an airliner to meet up with others in the US. It seems as though some of your plans will interfere with what I thought would be the goal of this movement that you are attempting to start, or at the very least the solo journey and self discovery that you are in quest of. Just trying to understand.

Far enough question. I understand that it must appear that way but for me its more about perspective and thought patterns and changing those thought patterns to help me prepare myself to take the next step. I have spent the past 5 or so years getting myself to this point – changing my diet, getting rid of the TV bug, learning how to make things from scratch. Shadoran isn't about the mainstream view of primitivism (anti-technology) as we believe that green technologies have a place to play in our future. The concepts of Shadoran are more closely linked to neo-tribalism (the ideology that human beings have evolved to live in a tribal, as opposed to a modern, society, and thus cannot achieve genuine happiness until some semblance of tribal lifestyles has been re-created or re-embraced) or 'soft primitivism' (the opinion that life was better or more moral during the early stages of mankind or among primitive peoples or among children and has deteriorated with civilization)
I guess you can then pose the question how does my journey honour those views? Well I am not 100% sure but its one more step forward then where I am now and leaps and bounds a head of the normal everyday person. Its a stepping stone in my gathering pool of knowledge.

Does that answer your question? If not thats ok because I don't mind explaining myself for people who actually desire to understand.

**wildography** · 02-21-2009, 06:33 PM

how about: "Yondering"... ok, I admit, I stole that from Louis L'Amour.

**DOGMAN** · 02-22-2009, 03:56 AM

The concepts of "genuine happiness", and "life being better or more moral" are so relative to the individual and/or group, that even discussing them seems to make the entire movements of "soft primitivism" and "neo-tribalism" sophmoric and silly.

Words like genuine, better, and moral are so subjective that they can only be used in context to an individuals personal opinions. So saying one particular groups lifeways is better or more moral is really ethnocentric and lacking in a empathetic world view.

That being said I have spent considerable time with several tribal groups (the Inuit along Hudson Bay, Athabaskans along the Yukon, the Blackfoot in Montana and the Huaorani in Ecuador) and in general most of the people I met in those cultures believed that they wouldn't be able to achieve genuine happiness until they had televisions (or better reception), MCDonalds, better and newer tools and dependable motorized vehicles....the grass is always greener on the other side it seems.

**The Shadoran Nomad** · 02-22-2009, 04:22 AM

Originally Posted by Jason_Montana

The concepts of "genuine happiness", and "life being better or more moral" are so relative to the individual and/or group, that even discussing them seems to make the entire movements of "soft primitivism" and "neo-tribalism" sophmoric and silly.

Words like genuine, better, and moral are so subjective that they can only be used in context to an individuals personal opinions. So saying one particular groups lifeways is better or more moral is really ethnocentric and lacking in a empathetic world view.

That being said I have spent considerable time with several tribal groups (the Inuit along Hudson Bay, Athabaskans along the Yukon, the Blackfoot in Montana and the Huaorani in Ecuador) and in general most of the people I met in those cultures believed that they wouldn't be able to achieve genuine happiness until they had televisions (or better reception), MCDonalds, better and newer tools and dependable motorized vehicles....the grass is always greener on the other side it seems.

But you dont know what you have until its gone!

Hmmm - those words represent the personal opinion from people within those movements because that is what they (including myself) believe. The definintions of those two movements where taken from Wikipedia.

**Sarge47** · 02-22-2009, 10:20 AM

Originally Posted by The Shadoran Nomad

I guess I don't really need a word for it but I thought it would help others understand what I am doing. I do however like the term 'walkabout' which is what the Noongar people (native people of my area) used to do. Its not homeless though. I left home when I was 14 and was homeless until about 16 but that is a different situation. Its more of a personal quest then misfortune. Yes I have a car, a laptop and a inverter (transfers power from my car battery so I can power my laptop). If I had no need to stay connected to the outside community I wouldn't have those items but I still have a responsibility to the young people I work with (I'm a youth worker) and the programs which I run and unfortunately without those things I wouldn't be able to my job. Eventually it would be nice not to use those items but at the moment its not practical.

Also I believe Christopher McCandless had quite a journey before he went on his odyssey as he worked at various places to earn money to move onto the next step. Eventually working himself up to the point he could go to Alaska and live the way he wanted but it was a process mentally to get himself ready for that. People tend to forget the first half of his journey and focus on his final leg of it. The main difference between his journey and mine is that I have chosen to stay in contact with my community and the people in my social circles.

I guess I don't understand you. Why does anybody else have to understand what it is you are doing? It's your decision, not theirs, if they don't like it they can lump it, right? I like the idea that you ARE maintaining social contact as I view that as wisdom. I also believe that you will learn a lot from this experience. And yes, you have my permission to copy this & post it on your Blog-site.

BTW, a Theasaurs only gives you different words that mean the same thing. I might call it "going primitive", but if you feel you have to "label it" then that will also have to come from you as all the rest of this is coming from you & you alone, right?

**Sarge47** · 02-22-2009, 10:29 AM

Originally Posted by wildography

how about: "Yondering"... ok, I admit, I stole that from Louis L'Amour.

I forgot to welcome you aboard, so "my bad". I lived in "the Springs" from '80 to '88; well, the latter part was spent down around Canon City. My 2nd son was born there & for awhile, I ran the C.S. Chess Club & was involved in playing in U.S.C.F. rated Tournaments. I liked your use of the Louis L'Amour term; here's another of my favorites: "One to ride the river with."

**wildography** · 02-22-2009, 11:41 AM

Thanks! Sarge! The Springs is growing quite a bit...especially towards the North and NorthEast. Aye, L'Amour had a lot of words to remember. And the spirit of venturing out into the wild and the frontier lives throughout his books. Seems like that same character lives in many of the people here... good company...

**DOGMAN** · 02-22-2009, 04:22 PM

The great mythologist Joseph Campbell, would say you are about to embark on a "rite of passage" called the "Hero's Journey" basically a voyage of discovery that people have gone on since the dawn of time...Jesus, the Buddha, Mohammed and millions of others whom throughout ages have gone into the wilderness or desert and slayed the demon inside themselves. The demon that keeps them from finding/living happiness.

"Furthermore, we have not even to risk the adventure alone, for the heroes of all time have gone before us. The labyrinth is thoroughly known. We have only to follow the thread of the hero path, and where we had thought to find an abomination, we shall find a god. And where we had thought to slay another, we shall slay ourselves. Where we had thought to travel outward, we will come to the center of our own existence. And where we had thought to be alone, we will be with all the world. (Joseph Campbell)"

Thats the thing that is to be discovered. It is not society or culture, or a lack of tribalism that keeps us disconnected from the world. It is our mentality... our mindsight, it is ourselves.

However, when you go on this journey- you have to live it. You have to be in the moment...every second of everyday... LIVING IT...this is not something you can blog about while its going on. To write and reflect and intellectualize will rip you out of the moment. To leave the moment...is to leave the journey. There is a difference between observing and participating....

Have you read "Never Cry Wolf" by Farley Mowat? At the end, when he climbs into the wolves den and see's the pups and mother wolf... the wolves that he has spent the past summer getting to know. He has a chance to commune. He has to the opportunity to live and feel the real natural world...to share a moment with the natural world without "observing, processing, relating" but to actually be at one with nature. But, he can't do it. He gets scared and resorts back to his human mindset of reacting on preconcieved notions created by language.

"But for me it was a voice which spoke of the lost world which once was ours before we chose the alien role; a world which I had glimpsed and almost entered...only to be excluded, at the end, by my own self (Farley Mowat)."

Your need for a word, your desire to be understood, your allegiance to movements needs to be left behind. You need to quit theorizing, intellectualizing, and observing- and start living.

**klkak** · 02-22-2009, 04:44 PM

Jason, I reckon some folks need the approval of other to quantify their life.

**Rick** · 02-22-2009, 07:44 PM

The term "Hobo" is really apropo. While the term has changed a bit over the intervening years, it's original connotation was a bit less condescending.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobo

I certainly hope you have some sort of "fail safe" planned.

**endurance** · 02-22-2009, 10:57 PM

I think my word for it was "my early 20's". When I read the Chris McLandess story I shuddered at some of my close calls because I'd made some similar choices at one point. I dropped out of college, packed up my CRX, and went on a road trip. I had camping gear with me and a rough idea of the places I wanted to go, but I also left a broad margin in my meanderings. I nearly froze in the mountains above Los Alamos, hiked the Grand Canyon with a girl I met on the rim, slept in hotel lobbies in Las Vegas while regaining the weight I'd lost in the buffets, and on the drive home, applied for my first job with the Forest Service as a wilderness crew member. From there, I lived in the bunk house or on the trail for my first season, then lived in a run down travel trailer I picked up (after totalling my CRX and buying a pick up).

Anyway, enjoy your adventure. Personally, I'd ditch the blog and journal instead. You want to be able to record thoughts that aren't for public viewing. Blogs distort reality for both the author and the reader.

Bring some Thoreau (Walden) and Abbey (Desert Solitare and the Monkey Wrench Gang) and try to learn more than you try to teach. Talk with at least one person once a week for more than 20 minutes. Campground hosts are the best, as they enjoy listening and are a little out there themselves. Blogging and e-mail is not talking. You need semi-normal strangers, as they will shape your reality in ways you never imagined.

Buy a SPOT and activate it with your mother/sister/high school best friend as your contact and check in with an OK every 24 hours. You'll be a lot safer with that as your comm device than a cell phone or e-mail.

**The Shadoran Nomad** · 02-23-2009, 10:40 AM

Originally Posted by endurance

I think my word for it was "my early 20's". When I read the Chris McLandess story I shuddered at some of my close calls because I'd made some similar choices at one point. I dropped out of college, packed up my CRX, and went on a road trip. I had camping gear with me and a rough idea of the places I wanted to go, but I also left a broad margin in my meanderings. I nearly froze in the mountains above Los Alamos, hiked the Grand Canyon with a girl I met on the rim, slept in hotel lobbies in Las Vegas while regaining the weight I'd lost in the buffets, and on the drive home, applied for my first job with the Forest Service as a wilderness crew member. From there, I lived in the bunk house or on the trail for my first season, then lived in a run down travel trailer I picked up (after totalling my CRX and buying a pick up).

Anyway, enjoy your adventure. Personally, I'd ditch the blog and journal instead. You want to be able to record thoughts that aren't for public viewing. Blogs distort reality for both the author and the reader.

Bring some Thoreau (Walden) and Abbey (Desert Solitare and the Monkey Wrench Gang) and try to learn more than you try to teach. Talk with at least one person once a week for more than 20 minutes. Campground hosts are the best, as they enjoy listening and are a little out there themselves. Blogging and e-mail is not talking. You need semi-normal strangers, as they will shape your reality in ways you never imagined.

Buy a SPOT and activate it with your mother/sister/high school best friend as your contact and check in with an OK every 24 hours. You'll be a lot safer with that as your comm device than a cell phone or e-mail.

Thanks for your post

**somehobo** · 02-23-2009, 01:48 PM

I don't think I've seen 'rewild' come up yet. I've heard it come up in a few other communities and sounds like it fits pretty well.

Thoughts?

**Beans** · 02-23-2009, 04:25 PM

If this was the 60's, words like Transmutation, Self-awareness, inter-child, nature child, Hippy, love child, flower power, commune, Love, dropping out, Etc would be entering these posts.

In the later years Earth child was a commonly used term

What I am reading is what they tried to accomplish in the 60's. Did it change the world Yes! Good and Bad. Did it cause people to think IMHO Yes it did.

**trax** · 02-23-2009, 04:29 PM

I'm actually quite surprised at the number of potential responses I've discarded in an attempt to be polite. You have fun on yer walkabout (driveabout?)