I believe a body in motion and a soul connected to nature makes a happy human. Back when I considered myself a “road runner” it boggled my mind that anyone could run on trails at all. But, with time, I developed the technique and skill that seems to keep the wipeouts to a relative minimum.
I now realize the peace that comes along with running in a forest, rather than the concrete jungle. There’s something intrinsically peaceful about escaping manmade right angles and all the media vying for our attention. I believe this “something” is specifically the practice of removing ourselves from the world of human thought.
Human thought has created the illusion that we’re separate from nature – hence the word “wilderness”. I also believe that if we want to get back to who we really are and have some of life’s larger questions answered, it’s essential that we make time to connect to the natural world. We’re always choosing that which feeds our mind, body, and soul. If we’re always in the city, we’ve got a lot of exterior stimulation hypnotizing us, like it or not. We’re more likely to experience the stillness conducive to original idea when we remove ourselves from the “human world” now and then.
Seeing a salamander crawling over moss, breathing the fall air, smelling the earth, hearing an owl – these are the experiences that bring us closer to what really matters in life, not scrolling through our social media feeds. It seems that realizing our origin may be lost in its simplicity – time on the trail.
RDU In Motion 
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