Alone

So recently, I’ve gotten hooked on this new show ALONE.  It’s a fascinating premise: 10 men go out into the wilderness and see who can live there the longest. The catch is that they do not know how many people are left or how long they will have to stay.  You could call it a psychological drama although there are plenty of “action” scenes featuring bears, cougars and wolves.  

http://www.history.com/shows/alone

SPOILER ALERT:  One of the things I find most interesting is that 6 of the men leave the first week.  More than half!!!  And all of them  had been talking about staying 9 months to a year.  

So, on ALONE  they get to bring 10 items to help them secure Water, Shelter, Food and Fire  

(Side note: What 10 items would you bring?   I have so far settled on 
     1. Flint and Iron
     2. Large knife (for example a machete....for killing things)
     3. Smaller Knife (for gutting)
     4. Rope
     5. Tarp
     6. Another Tarp
     7. Fishing String
     8. Ax
     9. Net or lures (can’t decide)
     10. ?

Fan Favorite: This guy is ready to go get himself a mouse to eaBig Knife (like machete sized for killing)

Fan Favorite: This guy sewed eyes on his hat to scare the cougars

Fan Favorite: This guy brought his "teacher glare" 

It’s interesting that those who made it through the first week started to embark upon a new level of psychological drama.  Food became a spiritual experience.  They began to reflect on who they were and why they were.  They got bored...really, really bored and beneath that boredom lay a sense of pointlessness.

David and I joked that we should make an equal and opposite show called “Never Alone” or “Stay at Home Mom.”  Because since I have become one I never have “personal” time, space, belongings, or even food.  And aside from the bears, cougars and wolves, the same drama unfolds.  I question who I am, why I am.  I get bored of our routines, the mundane food, water, safety that I feel on one hand I take for granted and on the other is ultimately out of my control.  

Fan Favorite: This guy brought an uncanny ability to quote English Literature at length.

It made me think of the sermon our pastor preached on Sunday.  We are all going to die.  We do everything to avoid it, to avoid even thinking about it but we know it.  He said that David in the Bible wanted to know when he was going to die, so that he could “number his days aright.”  In other words, not waste that time.  And I began to question, what is going to last?  What makes life worth living?  And I could think of only two things ...God and Love ( I know since “God is love” that is a bit redundant).  But when the tent pegs of my life pull out and I feel unstaked, and unsafe I want God to be there.  When I feel meaninglessness howling in my heart I want love to overflow.