15 October 2019
This morning as I was walking through the woods well-covered by my several layers of sweatshirts and coats, it dawned on me that all throughout history of humanity, people have walked throughout the woods. However, in those times they would have been covered by layers such as animal skins and furs. In earlier times, even before America was settled by the Europeans, the natives walked throughout the woods every day of their lives as a way of survival. The woods was where they slept, where they worked, where they played. In these areas of the land, they got their food from the woods and spent all of their time in the woods. This was simply how they survived.
These days, people tend to survive using other means. Most people work at jobs in an office or building where they make money to pay for what they need, whether that be a house or food or heating. Many people spend their free time elsewhere, such as at a gym or on a computer or at a bar. This is just how people survive. However, people these days still retreat back to the woods as a form of rejuvenation. The woods feel healing to us in these days of cubicles and dollars and screens. The woods seem to be a constant in the lives of humans whether from the early days or now. While there may be several very different ways to survive, there seems to be only one real way to rejuvenate and live—and you can find that in the woods.
❊ Lauren Nicole Geiser ❊