The Alone Series on The History Channel

I’m nursing sciatica in the right leg from lumbar swelling, and cervical nerve compression down my left arm today. I haven’t quite recovered from the Grant/Adams family yard sale last weekend-lol.

While I’m using the heating pad (which has become my best friend of late), I was thinking about the Alone series on The History Channel. I’m sure all of the men who tapped out (especially the early ones) have caught a lot of flack. They’re supposed to be survival experts. In fact, I subscribe to several of these men on YouTube (Joe Robinette, and Mitch, for example).

I think it needs to be said that from what I can tell, the worst adversary on Vancouver Island is not the climate, the bears, wolves, or mountain lions, or the lack of game or freshwater. I think the worst enemy on that island is the human mind, and our culture’s lack of comfort with aloneness.

In my own life, even though  I spend a good amount of time in my own head, most of the time I have one family member or another in my home somewhere. We might not speak much, but their presence is felt by me nonetheless. The times I am totally alone feels weird.

Along with that, I am rarely left completely alone without distraction.  I have an iPhone, I have TV, I have podcasts, I have a Kindle, I have books and magazines, and I have a radio. Our culture, and our American obsession with being busy, tends to make us very uncomfortable with just being. We just can’t seem to sit in silence without grabbing the phone, watching YouTube, or even grabbing a magazine or book. Think about it…when was the last Ike you just went outside, plopped in a hammock, unplugged, and just sat with your own noggin to keep you company? How many of your family members grab a smart phone in your presence, rather than just sit, or even just to avoid uncomfortable silence by engaging in conversation? Think about it.

We seem to be a paradox, don’t we? We are the most socially connected people in the history of the world, yet we sit alone a lot, but still we communicate rather superficially, continually. I think that is what all of the men on the island find hardest to deal with. I think it was Alan Kay who said something to the effect that if your going to be spending a lot of time alone, you’d better like yourself.  I think that is a very astute observation.

The loneliness, the guilt of leaving family, and sheer unending silence takes a toll on the human psyche. We are built for community. We say we’d love to spend time alone, but I really think we’re mistaken.

As far as the men taking flack for tapping out, I’m going to forego my curmudgeonliness, and say all of these men need our deepest respect. They left family, home, and comfort. Yes, someone is going to make $500,000, but I don’t think that mattered much on Vancouver Island after about the first few hours. These men went to compete, not necessarily with each other, but with nature, and mainly with themselves, I think.

I am not a pagan, but the concept of a vision quest might not be such a bad idea ( minus the animism and trances). Being at peace with your own self is a highly underrated commodity.

This is where the Christian worldview excels. We are only a breath away from praying to our Heavenly Father, and our worth is tied up with being made in the image of God, or Imago Dei. Our guilt is dealt with by the Gospel of Christ through repentance, and the forgiveness of sins. The rich theology of our faith can take us as deep as we want to go. Our future is a bright one, however bad our current situation may be. This life is as close to hell as we are ever going to get. We have a home with the loving arms of a redeeming God, and rest and comfort with the 3-in-1 God are our rewards.

That doesn’t lessen the struggles of this life, but it should definitely help us cope.

I will throw no stones at any of these men, for it took great courage just to volunteer to up and leave hearth and home.

By-the-way, I’m torn between hoping either Alan (the local boy from Blairsville down the road a piece), or Mitch (I’ve followed him on YouTube for a while now, and find him very wise and skilled for his age).

Who are you rooting for?