2022-010 | ABOUT HUMILITY BEFORE NATURE, PART 3

WISDOM TRAILS: The outdoors is better appreciated if you would only relegate your ego to the background and put yourself into your most humble form.

First seen in Facebook

December 18, 2018

 

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WHEN MOSES CAME FACE to face with a burning bush on Mount Sinai, he was so struck with awe and reverence that he placed himself in his most humble self. He removed his sandals for, he sensed, he was on holy ground, and he knelt. Moses now faced the God of his father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. He hid his face for he was afraid to look at God.

Moses faced a supernatural phenomenon and, unable to understand what lay before him, choose to humble himself and knelt with body so close to the ground, probably closing his eyes. He offered himself meekly like a lamb, choosing to disregard, at that most trying time, his gift of human reasoning and trusted instead on his faith.

I would do the same but not within the vicinity of a grass fire bellowing and eating anything in its advance. I would stop and take a knee as I study traces of the wild creatures’ presence, invisible but eyeing me cautiously from its hidden lairs. I would slow my pace when the forest showed me something unusual, special or beautiful. 

Nature is like a set of encyclopedia that could easily fill the biggest libraries in the world, strung together hundred-fold. You learn so many things (and lessons) from her. The tens of thousands of living organisms that exist in nature each show its own set of seasons reflecting to nature herself, diversifying further the only four seasons that we know of.

At the first opportunity, I would grasp this essence of nature by “disrobing” myself first of human imperfections like pride, arrogance, greed, indifference, and that urban smugness which goes with that feeling of superiority. As Moses had done so with his sandals and, later, kneeling so close to the ground.

The landscapes that you walk through could be the familiar one or another. Sometimes the familiar puts on a different mask which stops you on your tracks and play tricks on your memory. It is on these moments that your best abilities are put to the test but you would go nowhere unless you humble yourself.

It is on these moments that you look from the eyes of the heart. To feel nature at your most vulnerable form like Moses did. Overthinking, most of the time, would get you nowhere but trusting your heart – or your guts – would. It would be best to just adapt to the situation and bend to what the landscape demands.  

When I faced something that puzzles me, I just sit down under the shade and close my eyes and then the answers would just float by for an easy grab. Otherwise, never take it as a human challenge and provide your own human solutions. There is no harmony and you double your effort to overcome something so simple from the very beginning.    

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WARRIOR PILGRIMAGE BLOG, personified by this writer, is synonymous with the Outdoors, since Bushcraft and Survival is its niche. Safety and Security are its bedrock when it ventured into organizing outdoor events that involved people as in adventure/pilgrimage guideships and seminars; and explorations and expeditions.

Through tutorship, experience, folk knowledge and good old common sense, this writer was able to collect useful information which he is currently documenting in a book titled, ETHICAL BUSHCRAFT. He shares some of this information and knowledge in his training sessions; in his social-media account; and in this blog.

First photo courtesy AmericanMind.org

2022-006 | MOBILE PHONES & THE OUTDOORS

WISDOM TRAILS: The backcountry and your electronic gadgets do not mix. You cannot have both.

First seen in Facebook

November 19, 2018

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MOBILE PHONES PER SE are not distasteful to have and carry with in an outdoor outing. In fact, it is your lifeline for help when your trip turns out bad, given you can catch a good signal. It is just unthinkable to spend time with it oblivious of the natural beauty of the landscape evolving around you which everyone are relishing.

While it is rude to see people tinkering on their phones when someone is talking to them as an audience, it is just as rude on yourself to shortchange your time in the outdoors by willful and compulsive use of your phone or like gadgets. Freedom of the hills simply forgot about the topic on mobile phones. 

I know MOST of us are beholden to our cellular phones in all of our waking hours. Phones, because of its numerous apps, evolved as our own personal assistant. Without it, some would feel listless and helpless in how they make their day enjoyable. It is beginning to be a very obnoxious habit which you have little control of. Sometimes. 

But it can be controlled unlike cigarettes, alcoholic drinks and prohibited drugs where substance is inhaled, induced or injected into our body system that influenced our thoughts and moods. Battery life makes a habitual phone user shrink from continuous use. Absence of cellular connections makes them surrender to that situation.

There are no withdrawal syndromes experienced. No uncontrollable shakes. Just a feeling of anxiety and disorientation for a few minutes before one diverts his attention to his surroundings, unresponsive at first, but not for long. It is just a manageable psychological thing and a temporary emotional hang-up. 

There are places where your mobile phone is enjoyable and there are places where it is not needed and, therefore, kept in silent mode, unless you are expecting a call or a message. By the time you are finished, hopefully, it would not dominate your attention. Chuck it back in a safe place and enjoy nature with much vigor. 

One thing about using electronic devices in mountain environments is you may increase the risk of being in the way of lightning. The elevated areas has a climate of its own which usually differs from the usual weather forecasts. When the first sign of lightning appear, turn off gadgets and go indoors if there are structures. If not, stay away from highest trees and long conductors. 

The first photo shows a plastic box full of mobile phones. It belonged to students in a Girl Scout camp organized by Ateneo de Cebu Girl Scout Council of the Philippines. It simply is good common sense to separate these from its owners when you are in an outdoors activity or otherwise. It is teaching the adolescents discipline and prudence.

It seems the new values triggered by the arrival of the new versions of mobile phones – smart phones as they are called – have subverted the accepted human values on social etiquettes and behavior. Too much dependence on gadgets is frowned upon by society and use has to be regulated and the first place to learn that is the home. 

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WARRIOR PILGRIMAGE BLOG, personified by this writer, is synonymous with the Outdoors, since Bushcraft and Survival is its niche. Safety and Security are its bedrock when it ventured into organizing outdoor events that involved people as in adventure/pilgrimage guideships and seminars; and explorations and expeditions. 

Through tutorship, experience, folk knowledge and good old common sense, this writer was able to collect useful information which he is currently documenting in a book titled, ETHICAL BUSHCRAFT. He shares some of this information and knowledge in his training sessions; in his social-media account; and in this blog.

Photo Nr 2 grabbed from Bicycling.com.

2022-003 | THE GENUINE OUTDOORSMAN

WISDOM TRAILS: Hard Work, Creativity and Stamina are the hallmarks of a genuine outdoorsman. Maybe of Patience and Humility too. 

First seen in Facebook

November 11, 2018

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IN THIS AGE OF INSTANT GRATIFICATION, I find myself many times at the tip of the spear. Would I yield to the temptations of the promise of something greater? Of capitalizing on the opportunity of the moment? Of letting myself be swallowed by other people’s schemes? Would I have to overstretch and overstress myself to achieve something which borders on madness, greed and arrogance? 

Or of success?

Many have tried even when they have not yet arrived. The lure of something bigger is so great. Then again, immaturity would be the mother of failure. Even when you are in the right place at the right time but your strides are lacking, you are bound to stumble on your obsession because you simply are not ready in what you embarked for or pretended yourself to be. 

I understand many would love to be a compleat outdoorsman. I know everyone has the industry, even willing to walk that extra mile. But how far can you go then beyond that extra? Can your mindset create something from out of nothing like I did with the Cebu Highlands Trail? Without big-name sponsors, without local guides to help you as you stitched 408+ kilometers of routes, and then walking it later in one single continuous line for 29 days?

Do you have the confidence to organize and host the Philippine Independence Bushcraft Camp, like I also did, and then subject that event, to the criticism of detractors who thought the outdoors was their exclusive domain; and from armchair experts who have seen it all in YouTube and Netflix? I can proudly say that, after 10 years, it had become a premier event here if you want to learn advanced outdoor skills.  

Would you gave up your club membership so you could enjoy the outdoors better and organize your own like I did with my Camp Red Bushcraft and Survival Guild? Would you find satisfaction when the one you organized is the only one of its kind in the Philippines and it is peopled by individuals with the same mindsets? Those that love and understand the outdoors better? Well, I did and it is SEC registered.   

Would one be willing to exchange their comfort zones and subject themselves to the wrath of nature, of landscapes and people, and of their own designs? Would one walk the extra ten kilometers because the box they were in has no answers yet to what lie beyond? Would one lead without even trying? Would one be bold enough to make a statement that would shake the foundations of an established culture? 

The outdoors is one uncontrolled environment and it needed creative people. People that could think beyond templates of human behavior and psychology. A kind of creativity that does not move on a conventional pattern yet unmistakably so simple at the end. That same creativity which worked best with their own stamina. A stamina that is forged by the wild landscape that they so loved to tramp upon. 

Would you still want to be a genuine outdoorsman? If you have the patience and the humility, you might.

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WARRIOR PILGRIMAGE BLOG, personified by this writer, is synonymous with the Outdoors, since Bushcraft and Survival is its niche. Safety and Security are its bedrock when it ventured into organizing outdoor events that involved people as in adventure/pilgrimage guideships and seminars; and explorations and expeditions. 

Through tutorship, experience, folk knowledge and good old common sense, this writer was able to collect useful information which he is currently documenting in a book titled, ETHICAL BUSHCRAFT. He shares some of this information and knowledge in his training sessions; in his social-media account; and in this blog.

Image Nr 2, Nr 5 and Nr 6 courtesy of Ronald Abella.

Image Nr 3 courtesy of AkyatCon 2.0.

Image Nr 4 designed by Jhonrey Armilla.

2021-021 | IDLE HANDS & ACTIVE MOUTHS

WISDOM TRAILS: Open hands do more work than open mouths.

 

First seen in Facebook

March 10, 2018 

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IT IS ALWAYS VERY ANNOYING to see people loiter and talk while others are helping each other out so we could have coffee or prepare something like a warm meal. In my tribe, we have the “usual suspects” who would not move on their own unless you drop a coin into their ears and then the brain starts to function. You leave them to their own designs and they will remain non-functional and just talk all day. 

If you lived a sheltered life and you choose bushcraft as your interest or hobby, you need to work on those muscles. Unlike other outdoor activities, bushcraft is labor intensive. You need to expend an extra mile of energy after a long hike to appraise and set-up your sleeping spot, gather firewood, prepare a fire pit, fetch water, process food, make a fire and cook, before you can claim your relaxing time where meals are a part.

 

These are monotonous but very satisfying if you stay in a place for three days and two nights or more. These becomes very exciting when you change places every day on a week-long journey, just ranging around the mountains and forage fruits, tinder and the novelties that nature offers you as you go. Under stress of time and fatigue, observe how your mind adapt to the situation and let your thoughts settle down to the necessities of the moment. 

In bushcraft, idle talks are always reserved during meals and downtimes beside the fire. Talk is good when comparing notes as you slowly grind the daylight hours away with your discoveries and epiphanies; coaching and guiding others; and spiking up a brief conversation with funny moments before breaking up to focus on something like digging a water hole or blowing an ember to life after almost an hour of striking quartzite on steel. 

Generally, less talk gets you more time to concentrate on your tasks. Less annoying too if you are working with a blade. You can never concentrate while engaging in idle talk else you cut the wrong thing. The brain works only with one thought at a time. It cannot compete with a computer which could deliver multiple tasks all at the same time. When you process a thought of action like replying to a question, you should drop what you are doing.  

 

That is why silence is much appreciated when no human voices are interrupting your thoughts or your tasks. When your “usual suspects” start playing their tales, it is best that you give them a wide distance. The tasks at hand are more important than them. If you so desire, feed them half the fare. Ancient Greeks and Romans do that to their soldiers whose hands are found so soft.   

I have always observed that the conversationalists among us seems to always lose their appetite when putting more animation on topics where it is most needed at fireside moments. Their silence is deafening. Some of the time, they would be missed when their names are mentioned. You may hear them though chasing a lot of Zzzzzzz in their blissful slumbers with a full belly.

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WARRIOR PILGRIMAGE BLOG, personified by this writer, is synonymous with the Outdoors, since Bushcraft and Survival is its niche. Safety and Security are its bedrock when it ventured into organizing outdoor events that involved people as in adventure/pilgrimage guideships and seminars; and explorations and expeditions. 

Through tutorship, experience, folk knowledge and good old common sense, this writer was able to collect useful information which he is currently documenting in a book titled, ETHICAL BUSHCRAFT. He shares some of this information and knowledge in his training sessions; in his social-media account; and in this blog.

2021-018 | COMMITMENT

WISDOM TRAILS: Commitment separates steel from butter. Commitment is the father of integrity. 

When you gave your word you should stand by it regardless of tempests and obstacles. Failing so would tarnish on your character like an ugly scar.

First seen in Facebook

February 16, 2018

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I AM NOT PERFECT BUT, where it is most possible, I honor commitments. Most of the time, to be accurate. Commitment is something that is not taken seriously nowadays. This honor thing seemed archaic and alien today. In the old days, when you say or promised something, you are bound to stand by it and honor it. It does not need a piece of paper to force you into one.

Commitment, if it is not honored, remains just a broken promise or a falsity. A scam, if you prefer to use this most popular – and hated – word in social networking sites. Honoring a commitment is a product of good breeding. Good breeding is the fruit of the many years of learning noble virtues and good values in life. Not education, wealth and fame. These last three types can choose the wrong side but good breeding would not.

Commitment is a hard yoke on any individual, especially if he or she is a leader or an organizer of events. He would be the first to rise and the last to go home. He would be the earliest at the assembly area and sees to it that everyone has arrived safely to their destinations and homes before he finds his own comfort. Punctuality and efficiency are his domain and pride. So unyielding like Toledo steel. 

You begin to nurture commitment when Righteousness was your guidepost early in life. The kind of righteousness that is not malignant and intolerant of others but the kind that infects the world with its godly restraint and limitless empathy. Something like this Bible verse: “Pursue righteousness and a Godly life, along with faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness” (1 Tim 6:11). 

In this way, you put your commitment in the proper perspective instead of imposing it on others. You can never compare yourself with others and this is where you should shine. However distracting life may be, lead by good example. Let your deeds and actions talk for you. Keep your standards of values at a high level. Show people how and do not dictate or raise a voice.

Commitment is patience. The complete control of your emotions. When people became a pain in the ass, your commitment will place you in direct way of their comfort zones. You will deal with indifference (people who do not mind the time you set); ignorance (people who became indifferent of your time); and arrogance (people who ignore your time). 

When you lead people or organize an event, your commitment to your people and to your activity must be unwavering yet flexible at the same time to dispose properly the dregs that are always found at the bottom of a cup. Nobody is perfect! It is not easy but a lot of people have been in that situation and they loved the challenge.

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WARRIOR PILGRIMAGE BLOG, personified by this writer, is synonymous with the Outdoors, since Bushcraft and Survival is its niche. Safety and Security are its bedrock when it ventured into organizing outdoor events that involved people as in adventure/pilgrimage guideships and seminars; and explorations and expeditions.

Through tutorship, experience, folk knowledge and good old common sense, this writer was able to collect useful information which he is currently documenting in a book titled, ETHICAL BUSHCRAFT. He shares some of this information and knowledge in his training sessions; in his social-media account; and in this blog.

2021-012 | APPRECIATION & GRATITUDE

WISDOM TRAILS: People who harbor deep gratitude to you, remember you in their prayers always. Do good every turn. Give what is due them. 

First seen in Facebook

January 9, 2018

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GOOD HUMAN RELATIONS IS the bedrock of a good community. Good old values are still relevant in this new millennium despite the new values and behavior brought on by new technology. There is a clash really of both and it is up to us to steer the newer generation to the one that is quite superior and morally right. 

One of this very endearing value is appreciation. Appreciation has several cousins and bear many sons and daughters. You find many of its kind in a thesaurus. Appreciation is a gesture of acceptance and the gratitude of the spirit. Without appreciation, life is gray and boring. Appreciation is a powerful stimulant for those who do goodness in this world all the time.  

I appreciate people for their deeds and their virtues. The more you appreciate people the more it improved the morale and esteem of the person where it creates a better and very conducive environment. But appreciation, as in all good values, is a two-way street. You gave some and some comes back to you. 

I was just quite fortunate that I have friends who showed their appreciation on me in a simple ceremony on the third day of the Philippine Independence Bushcraft Camp last June 12, 2015. They gifted me a certificate and a token: a mother-of-pearl Native American likeness attached to a small wooden pedestal, complete with a functioning miniature tomahawk pipe.   

This gesture was very symbolic since I used a representation of a Native American – the “Chief”, actually my lineage; as my logo of an outdoor organization that I have established on January 24, 2010; the same organization which my friends belonged: the Camp Red Bushcraft and Survival Guild, or simply known as the Guild.

 

The people who took the previous and future PIBC and its related training became the nucleus of the Guild. This sense of belongingness with a unique organization; the pride of being; creates a strong impression on their esteem as if it is a badge of honor; which indeed it is; for the Guild has no peers, humble aside. 

They greatly appreciated their being there and we now have a very healthy community who looked after each other and gave each what is due them like appreciation in the form of friendship and camaraderie and the privilege of a special gift. The Guild I established seemed to not run out of it. We have a very dynamic community. 

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WARRIOR PILGRIMAGE BLOG, personified by this writer, is synonymous with the Outdoors, since Bushcraft and Survival is its niche. Safety and Security are its bedrock when it ventured into organizing outdoor events that involved people as in adventure/pilgrimage guideships and seminars; and explorations and expeditions.

 

Through tutorship, experience, folk knowledge and good old common sense, this writer was able to collect useful information which he is currently documenting in a book titled, ETHICAL BUSHCRAFT. He shares some of this information and knowledge in his training sessions; in his social-media account; and in this blog.

2021-008 | RITE OF PASSAGE

WISDOM TRAILS: There was a time when a knife was given as a gift. It was the happiest moment in a boy’s life, for, in his eyes, he is accepted as an adult. It happened because the giver knows the recipient is ripe enough how to use, keep and care of the knife. It is a rite of passage. It is not anymore. We live in a different world with changing values. The old ways are discarded for something politically correct, metrosexual and superficial

You simply cannot earn your first knife if your hands are soft and lazy. A child must be taught how to use the knife as a tool and he practices it on his spare time until such time his confidence would increase his level of skill. In much the same way, a child skilled in making a fire prepares himself or herself to the business of simple life skills of cooking and eating. The child becomes self-reliant and how self-reliance is now a rare commodity, is it not?

First seen in Facebook

January 1, 2018

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POLITICAL CORRECTNESS, MOST of the time, turn a harmless thing, gesture or ritual, into something offensive and harmful. The more people becoming very sophisticated in their lifestyles and in their living environment, the more they distanced themselves from their past or their origins. Comfort almost always discards the archaic models of living a life. Protectiveness is an instinct but, now, it is magnified as opportunities of economic gains, like a lawsuit.

 

In my time, I bruised and bloodied both hands and lower legs for tasks like splitting the firewood. I used many bolos, a cleaver, an axe and wood wedges to accomplish my work when I became nine years old up to the time that I became 25. Wood splinters would be found under my skin; small pieces of wood bounced at me, hitting my shins, knees, face and arms; blades would separate from handles and became missiles that rebound back at you when it hit a concrete wall. 

If some parent today would have their kid do the tasks that I did, that father or mother would surely be summoned to appear in a police station to answer for a complaint of cruelty to children or child labour. Am I right? Yes, Virginia. You can even broadcast it in Facebook Live and tag all the police stations that is in your friends list. Today’s society is an effeminate society. I watch it with contempt and I disdained to walk in its superficial ground.

 

Did you not know that handling edged tools early in my life have developed my earliest appreciation of the blade? It made my upper body strong and calloused the hands that gripped with sureness which helped me to go on a private pilgrimage of adventure and discovery. Most of all, it became the seed of what becomes now as the Knife Carry Rights and Ethics, which I taught in my bushcraft camp seminars and which I talked in speaking engagements. 

I earned my first knife when I was 15. My grandfather allowed me the use of his two OKAPI hunting knives which I carried everyday to school and home. When I was 21, my father gave me his own-made knife which I brought in my island-to-island tramping in a tugboat. Believe this or not, I owned my first Swiss Army Knife when I was already 49. You should be happy you have one while you are still young.

 

I grew up in a community where people used knives in their work and I get to know the many ways how they used it. All were responsible in their demeanors, even while drunk. Sure there were scruples and misunderstandings but, in spite of that edged environment, nobody died.  

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WARRIOR PILGRIMAGE BLOG, personified by this writer, is synonymous with the Outdoors, since Bushcraft and Survival is its niche. Safety and Security are its bedrock when it ventured into organizing outdoor events that involved people as in adventure/pilgrimage guideships and seminars; and explorations and expeditions.

Through tutorship, experience, folk knowledge and good old common sense, this writer was able to collect useful information which he is currently documenting in a book titled, ETHICAL BUSHCRAFT. He shares some of this information and knowledge in his training sessions; in his social-media account; and in this blog.