Do hobbies matter? To what degree and why? Perhaps, more than we ever thought possible.
Category: Health and Wellness
Can’t Stop: Physical Exhaustion and Mental Health
Recently, on a mountain biking Facebook group I’m part of, someone mentioned getting hurt because they didn’t listen to their body on a particular day; they went out and rode when they should have listened to their body and stayed home, taken the day off. I wrote a reply, relating my two broken elbows the…
After Forever: The World After Covid-19
As Wildlife begin to explore urban communities, and our skies clear of toxic smog, I can’t help but wonder: what will the world look like after Covid-19?
You've Got a Friend in Me: Rethinking Our Relationship with the Natural World
To change the world requires us to radically alter the way we think about our relationship with it. See what that means in this week’s piece.
In Through the Out Door: How Going Out Into Nature Leads Us In to Our Truest Selves
Why do people go outside? I mean, besides the obvious, like having to go to work or move from the house to some other point in the world. What draws those of us inspired by nature out? Why do some people choose to suffer through freezing rain, sleet, sub-zero temperatures: or risk injuries that range…
The Simple Joy of Walking in the Woods
“Being accustomed to climb trees in making botanical studies, I experienced no difficulty in reaching the top of this one, and never before did I enjoy so noble an exhilaration of motion. The slender tops fairly flapped and swished in the passionate torrent, bending and swirling backward and forward, round and round, tracing indescribable combinations…
Mountain Madness: The Limits of Human Endurance and Lessons the Mountains Teach
I was running down the mountain as fast as I could, while still being safe, trying to quickly return to the car to retrieve water so that I could hike back up the mountain to deliver some much-needed hydration to Logan. Then, I heard it. A shrieking howl piercing the wilderness, tearing through the trees…
Adventure Time: Redefining Adventure for Everyone
When modern readers think of or read about adventure they’re probably reading about epic journeys of discovery, or thinking about trail blazers who risked life and limb in search of an ultimate prize: Roald Amundsen, the Norwegian explorer and his team of four were the first to make it to the geographic South pole in…
A Man of Leisure’s Brief Guide to Understanding Wellness and Productivity
Change. Life’s great constant. Humans possess a remarkable ability to shape their circumstances in life. While there is no doubt that there exists a great many factors in life over which people have no control—circumstances of birth, the past, what others think, life and death, catching up with the Joneses—there also exists a good many…
Why Climbing Matters
As a brief note, this article often uses the term climbing in a broad sense to include everything from rock climbing to mountaineering and hiking. As I rediscover climbing in middle-age, I find that I’m teaching myself something new all over again. Climbing! Whether rocks or mountains, humble boulders and hills in your backyard forests,…