At the root of many of our “cabin in the woods” fantasies is getting back to a simpler life. Stepping into a world where we relieve ourselves from the clutter of modern living. And getting away from people who make our guts churn. Mind space is every bit as important as physical space. In fact, I’d say that it’s more so. If you can truly compartmentalize and get away from thinking about a nagging email when you’re not actually wanting to, then you’re freer wherever you are than someone on the furthest corner of the remotest island.
Being connected by phone and Internet as I am, I’m as prone as anyone to having my mind space filled with static buzz (or maybe that’s just from the nest of cords attached to power bars and radiating out to a computer, monitor, hard drives, signal booster, card readers, battery chargers, etc.). To truly unplug, I often think, I would first need to unplug everything electronic. But maybe that’s just blaming the messenger(s).
There’s no getting away from life, not if you want to be connected with society at any level. The health concern of a family member or some business affairs will always need to be dealt with somehow. Then of course, there’s that most irritating and demanding source of trouble, the self.
I recently heard a CBC interview with author Jim Harrison, and he said something to the effect of us no longer having days where we’re “just living.” I’m going to see if I can physically arrange something like that before my first year is up. No laptop, no iPhone, just my annoying self. A retreat of sorts. I’ll find a cabin in the woods to get away from my cabin in the woods. Though I already suspect that I’d just be moving to another box, within a box (within a box, within a box). And in the very smallest box in the middle is my monkey mind.