"Everyone must believe in something...."

"...I believe I'll go canoeing." -- Henry David Thoreau

I sat down to blog today, and was all set to write about motivation. And as I was looking for the quote of the day and simultaneously reading some of Grey Owl's works, I became distracted (oh, the irony) and found myself lost in a dozen paddling websites. I decided I'd blog about something I'm very passionate about; canoeing. Then, after a few minutes of blankly staring at a picture I'd taken a while back, I discovered that I could very easily integrate the two. So, in a very roundabout and story-telling way, I will explain this to you.

I'm an outdoorsy person, first of all. I don't know why; I come from a family of haggis-eating Scottish immigrants who would love nothing more than to sit in the backyard with a beer with The Best of The Proclaimers or Rod Stewart on the stereo. Which, might I add, I do not mind at all. It's tradition!

However, we rarely camp together (and if we do it's "luxury camping") and I'm the only person in my family of 4 that skis, trips, hikes, rock climbs or swims. And I don't really mind. I have accepted that by some strange quirk, I have become addicted to adventure. I love nothing more than the relaxed challenge of wilderness I've never seen. Nothing brightens me more inside than the prospect of exploration.

I could not have explained it better than Grey Owl;

"The feel of a canoe gunnel at the thigh, the splash of flying spray in the face, the rhythm of the snowshoe trail, the beckoning of far-off hills and valleys, the majesty of the tempest, the calm and silent presence of the trees that seem to muse and ponder in their silence; the trust and confidence of small living creatures, the company of simple men; these have been my inspiration and my guide. Without them I am nothing." -- Archie Belaney/Grey Owl

My inspiration, my solace, my love is nothing more than to be outside. I almost immediately relax around water, whether it's the ocean, a lake, a river, or even if it'd just raining. So, it would only make sense that I would be at my most comfortable in a canoe. I can think of little better than to spend a day paddling aimlessly around, traveling wherever a whim takes me.

Exploring is my motivation.

People have all sorts of motivators, often more than one. Some are motivated by money, some by thoughts of success, some by their mothers' praise; by dreams, by the common good, by the name in spotlights, by someone they feel for, by the promise of donuts, even. We are all motivated by something; for if we weren't, we'd never get anything done. We'd all be stagnant.

The strange thing about motivation is that it can't always work when you need it to. Sometimes, what motivates us doesn't apply to the situation in which we need a little help to get moving. This is what I have experienced quite a lot lately.

What started me on this whole tangent was the fact that I was studying for a chemistry exam last week and simply could not bring myself to focus. I was thinking of ways I could motivate myself. No one was going to pay me for passing chem. No one would give me a plaque, the Nobel Peace Prize, a spot on Broadway, an engagement ring, or even an apple fritter. My motivation was leveling off at around zero...wait, scratch that...perhaps negative three. So I started to think; what could get me to study?

I started off thinking about where I was. I had decided to go to Trent because I had an unshakable feeling that I was going to be happy there. Generally, my gut instincts are true, and have thus far never lead me astray. Just walking across the bridge or by the canal can bring my stress levels down and my endorphins up. However, the more I sat and attempted to study, the more I would wish I was outside, enjoying the rare sun you find during the academic year at Trent.

I nearly went insane.

Which is, what I realized, how I had been feeling all of my year last year. I think I find not being at school very hard because a) there's nothing to challenge me, and b) I don't have the means of exploring while at home. I'm nervous to spend the summer back home, because I'm afraid my motivational fires will die out; I'll spend the summer either at work or in front of the TV despite my best efforts, not out cycling and exploring and practicing guitar like I hope to.

So I compromised and promised myself that if I could just hang on for this last exam, that if I could just crack down on the studying, I would plan myself a canoe trip. Myself, perhaps a friend or two, a canoe, a harmonica, and an expanse of water. Even just the thought of it made me happier. My motivation worked for me, although not as well as I'd hoped, in the case of chemistry. Sometimes you just have to do things because you have to do them. "Suck it up, princess," as my Outdoor Ed teacher would say, speeding past you on a portage with a canoe and a pack on her tiny 100lb frame. I always envied her unending desire to push herself and others forward.

I think my motivation has also been cause for my interest in environmental science. I feel like everything I can do, everything I discover, everything I can learn about the environment I can put down as investment in a future where we still have the luxury of untouched wilderness, where I can bring my kids out on the water and teach them to paddle. I think canoeing and interior camping are very organic ways of being. The utter absence of human noise, the almost limitless expanse of trees and water and sky, the knowledge that your presence has an absolutely minimal effect of the world around you... I live for that.

"What sets a canoeing expedition apart is that it purifies you more rapidly and inescapably than any other travel. Travel a thousand miles by train and you are a brute; pedal five hundred on a bicycle and you remain basically a bourgeois; paddle a hundred in a canoe and you are already a child of nature." -- Pierre Elliott Trudeau

I guess I am just a child of nature.

I wonder what you are, what motivates you?

Think about it. Put it to good use.

-- Cate





This is a shot of me on my trip to Newfoundland two summers ago. :)