It’s gotten warm enough in my house over the last two days of 80 degree temps that the butter is easy to knife into and spread on toast. I think that is a pretty good way to judge about how warm you should keep your house to be both environmentally and buttermentally conscious. About 74 degrees or so is perfect. The butter holds together well still, and cuts… like butter.
Today I read a story of a young guy who walked 25,000 miles around the world. He started at age 25 and finished at age 32. He lost a close friend when he was 16, he said, and started contemplating his mortality, and soon he started planning what to do about it, hatching his epic adventure. He admits to being naive, was probably lucky not to get killed, but on the whole he realized people are better than they are bad. He had some profound insights into society and culture by the time he finished, more than most people will acquire in a lifetime. I thought once about doing what he did on a bicycle, but I am too weak, mentally and in the knees.
To quote the story, “As he walked, so much was going through his mind – his history, his values, his hopes. It all came to a head in the deserts of Peru and Chile. “‘I was on my own so much, just with my thoughts. The way I describe it is like weeding your garden. You don’t realize it, but your head is full of these weeds and when you’re walking, you’re on your knees pulling weeds. After about a year and a half, when I was down in south Peru, I felt like I’d thought all the thoughts, and the garden was clean. There was no more angst, no regrets, nothing I could pick through. I was in the Atacama desert, lying under a million stars, and it felt like I was at the bottom of myself. All the doubts went.’”
Walking, especially longer distances, can be transformative. I’ve been on many hikes, several days of backpacking, a dozen miles a day carrying 40 pounds, and there’s definitely something that occurs, a quieting of the mind as the body focuses on the task at hand, a simple one but necessary. Move forward. Eat. Rest. Move. Sleep. Listen to the silence, punctuated by animals or wind. Hear your footsteps. I suppose that’s why walking meditation is a thing.
He said, “One of the best things about the walk was every day I woke up with a purpose. A very immediate purpose and human purpose where I walked a certain amount. So every day I’d accomplish the little goal and within that I’d see new things, talk to new people, learn about the world, just through walking. Then I’d lie in bed, thinking: ‘That was a good day, mission accomplished, let’s do it again tomorrow.”
The insight he had that struck me as the most enlightened, one that many people never realize, was when he walked through Peru and later Denmark and realized life could be different.
“Turcich had always been taught that those who work hard will be rewarded; that if you are capable and determined there is nothing to stop you achieving. But the more he saw of the world, the more he realized this was not true. “You end up realizing so little is down to willpower, because there are much smarter, much kinder people than me all over the world who don’t have my opportunities.” He met a man in Peru selling petrol to passing trucks from his roadside hut. “He was a great guy, and very bright; definitely smarter than me, and probably a harder worker. But he’s never going to leave Peru because of the geography or history he’s born into. You see over and over again that what really affects people are the systems in place.”
Then in Denmark, he found hope for a way to change that. “It was the first time I saw there was a different way to do infrastructure. It seemed very peaceful. I loved being able to ride a bike everywhere. America is very car-centric and it takes away a lot from cities and daily life.” Denmark has got its priorities right, he adds – it’s a country that has used its wealth to provide great healthcare and education.
You can read the story in The Guardian.
74 degree butter.
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