It is hard not to be absolutely fascinated by the story about young Christopher Johnson McCardless who in 1992 gave up everything and walked into the wilderness to be found dead four months later in Alaska by some moose hunters. McCardless gave up his privileged life and comfort in search of adventure. Many people have been affected by McCardless's life and dead. Some characterizes him as naive, a reckless idiot, an arrogant narcissist and others admires him for his courage and noble ideals.
I'm not the one to judge about McCardless and his Walkabout but there are indeed parallels to my own Walkabout. Being out there in the jobless wilderness anxious for the content of the future, what is actually my own (job) identity? And what about the following line:"I read somewhere how important it is in life not necessary to be strong but to feel strong....to matter yourself at least once, to find yourself at least once in the most anxious of human conditions". Being sacked is for me and by many others characterized as an identity crisis – from one day to the next you are nothing in a job oriented western world. The text line brings for me thoughtfulness and possibilities into this chaos – there is here an opportunity to use this “room of nothing” as fuel for reflection on how to move on towards a new job identity – not necessary easy but a chance worth trying!
Judge for yourself - find the book here and the movie here - but start taking a look at the music video by Eddie Vedder and listen to the song lines.
No comments:
Post a Comment