Like there’s no end to acquisition, there’s no end to relinquishment too, and the only absolute ideal in both cases is to give up your life for your pursuit.

So, maybe, Chris McCandless’s example is not only an impossible ideal to aim for, but also an unworthy one.

So, maybe, moderation, albeit boring as an idea, is indeed the happy mean.

wow…somebody who has the guts to do what Chris did?

When i watched “Into The Wild” for the first time…felt the same way…constantly saying to myself “that is me”…i couldn’t watch the movie without tearing up…and i only realized it was a true story when they showed the photograph of the real Chris McCandless at the ending. I walked around with a lump in my throat for the next few days searching online about him.this was about 3 months ago.

In my final semester in college(a year and a half ago) I came across Tolstoy’s “The Kingdom of God is Within You”, which pretty much changed the way i looked at everything.

i gave myself 2 choices at that time…one was complete freedom and the other was to lead the normal life of compromises.

I just couldn’t ignore my parents…for all their mistakes have sacrificed a lot for their children and it would be cruel to leave everything and everyone..punish them like that for my own happiness.

I came across this movie almost a year after that decision. It got me thinking… How the wild could be different from human civilization? I watch humans and they are no different from animals…the way we organize ourselves into groups and the whole survival/mating process we go through.

I just felt that after watching this movie…. i should learn to survive the human world…somehow without compromising my own values.

This is really getting long and i don’t really know what to say….
Its that i wanted to do what you are doing right now.
I just can’t bring myself to take the jump.
hearing about your endeavor is an encouragement.

All the best for your pursuit of happyness

@Shashank: Yes, the important thing is to seek (happiness, love, truth etc.), even when you know that you may not find it after all.

@Nishikant: I’m 28, but I have been told that I’m already a boring old man.

@Jonathan: I think there’s a sequence we can’t escape. You first need to realize the futility of searching outside, then you need to realize the futility of searching within, only then you can truly find happiness in human interactions. This is the classic “dependent to independent to interdependent” process.

@GK: Thank you, my friend, both for the movie and for your kind words.

@Patrick: Yes, that’s true, but still, I feel sad about the pointlessness of his death.

@Kaushal: Maybe, we should head out into the Sahyadris together for a weekend. It’s too hot now, so, let’s do it towards the end of July, once the rains set in.

@Amit/Shashank: Well, I was struggling with the ghosts of self-doubt. I’m back now, in a manner.