Hardship
There are two things I always do when experiencing hardship and stress: 1) Go into Nature and 2) Declutter.
Although these actions seem to have no commonality, both of these actions remove distractions in order to think clearly about a situation.
Many people see going into The Great Outdoors during tough times as running away from or avoiding problems, an escape per se. I disagree, and would argue that staying in civilization probably prolongs the problems due to the unlimited amount of distractions we encounter every single day inside and outside our homes.
Walking out your front door and straight into the wilderness with no music and no internet connection allows you to sit with the situation, feel all the emotions, contemplate, and work through a variety of solutions, if in fact you’re needing a solution. Sometimes there’s no solution needed, sometimes we just need to feel, accept, heal, and move forward. And I would argue that an environment WITH distractions lets you do that partially; one WITHOUT distractions lets you do it fully.
The puppies & me wrapping up our 14-day saunter through the woods.
If you’ve ever said, “I need to go for a walk to clear my head” you already know what I’m talking about. But I’m not talking about a 30-minute walk around the neighborhood; I’m talking about a three day saunter through the woods, at the least. If you know that taking a 30-minute walk around the neighborhood helps to clear your head, imagine what a three day walk through the wilderness could do.
There’s actually research that backs my wild beliefs and one research theory is called the “3-Day Effect” by Dr. David Strayer. In my words, it takes three days for your mind and body to relax in order to be fully present. In Strayer’s words, “the 3-Day Effect is a mental reset that happens when you spend at least 72 hours disconnected from technology and immersed in the wilderness, leading to lower stress and a nearly 50% boost in creative problem-solving.” Up until the 72 hour mark, your mind is letting go of everything superfluous.
Fun fact, the 3-Day Effect is the exact reason BE journeys are at least five days long with at least three days in Nature. I believe in the 3-Day Effect so strongly that I plan your trips around it, don’t tell you, and just let you have the time and space to think about whatever you need to think about.
If for some reason I’m unable to step into Nature, expect me to perform a massive declutter. Once again, I would not look at this action as avoiding problems. Instead, I’d look at it as physically removing superfluous items and obligations from my life in order to make space in my head to contemplate the problems clearly.
Let’s recall the quote, “A cluttered space is a cluttered mind.” In my words, to give a hardship the full attention it deserves, I declutter my space to declutter my mind. In the words of a research article titled, Clutter and Anxiety: What Research Reveals About Mental Clarity, your eyes register every object as information, forcing your brain to work overtime filtering out visual noise instead of relaxing. Ultimately, clutter can lead to depression and anxiety; decluttering can lead to lower stress levels, mental fatigue, and anxiety.
*** In times of hardship and stress, you are not avoiding your problems by retreating into Nature or tossing things into the dumpster. You are quite literally using two excellent tools to remove distractions, think clearly, problem solve, and lower stress levels. ***
You might be wondering, “and when is the last time you did this, Belay?“
I do this all the time but to be specific, I spent all of September sauntering through the woods because my partner and I received the best news, then bad news, then even worse news. And…Colorado’s Collegiate Wilderness was there for it all.
JoJo and me contemplating life together in the Collegiate Wilderness.
Assumptions have been made - by only a few - that my life seems to lack in hardship or stress. Maybe it’s because I travel, maybe it’s because I don’t have kids, however,
I’m 41 and have primarily navigated through this world solo, so I know struggle.
I’m an entrepreneur, so I know stress.
I’m human, so I know hardship.
I think what I do well is move through these times swiftly because Nature and decluttering helps me sit with them fully.
I write this so that maybe you don’t see Nature as an escape but as a healing necessity. I write this so that maybe you don’t see decluttering as a trend but rather an excellent tool to gain clarity. I write this so that maybe you give Nature or decluttering (or even both) a chance next time you find yourself deep in the trenches. I write this so we remember to BE Outside and BE Simple.
Cheers,
Belay
Me in the Collegiate Wilderness in September.
