CUCKOO's NEST IS MY FAVORITE

[undergroundnathan]

If we cant laugh at our selfs how will we stay happy.I dont like being made fun of,Joking can be ok some times depending on who its coming,especialy if It comes from the mentaly Ill person.I have a hard time getting a date,so ill make coments like,I cant get a dat e because my nose is to big or my jaw bone sticks out to far,They dont always laugh but I was trying to be funny. the caricter that jack nicolson playes is my hero,He may not have been mentaly Ill,When he cave ideals on how to make things better he was shot down by the nurses.I had ideas when ive been in a couple hospitals I was shot down just like him.Remember the elevator music and how he wanted to change it,I had the same exsperince.Someone made a comment that the mentaly Ill pepole should hike together,I think he was joking,BUT ITS NOT A BAD IDEA,Give me your ideas on this. I posted how I taked to the city editor,of my local newspaper.I thought about the thoughts some of you gave to me.Im not going to raise money for my hike,it was just a thought I didnt know.But to raise money for WE MOVE,if I did it by the mile it would be hard to prove.What I thought would be easyer would to be get pamphlets from WE MOVE,and give pepole the opertunity to donate money directly to WE MOVE,then I wont be touching any of it.I get a dissability check It isent much but ill make do with it.I have gear,My sleeping bag is to small,but ill use it if I cant aford a long down bag.Ill need shoes I can buy that.It would be nice to have liter gear,but I cant aford it.Im on a social securit check IM lucky to have what I got. I WILL BE FINE. THANK YOU FOR READING THIS. sincerly underground.

[TOW]

you have a very blessed day undergroundnathan.................

[Nightwalker]

I guess my problem lately is that I don't always know the difference. :(

[One Leg]

I guess my problem lately is that I don't always know the difference. :(

Nightwalker:

When Nathan originally posted on WB, my initial reaction was "Wow, I finally found my old buddy!" I didn't think about his mental illness, or the fact that he was seemingly different from others... I had just missed him and was glad that I had the opportunity to reconnect with him again.

However, since he's posted and received the overwhelming response he has, I'd like to make some unsolicited observations:

First of all, I was honestly overwhelmed at the floodgate that Nathan opened. He had others sharing their secret right here, out in the open, proverbially naked before the world. The raw honesty among the posters was what I found to be the most "shocking".. Not a bad shock either, I'm glad to see that such honesty and open-ness still exists in the world today.

Nathan probably didn't know that he had so many folks out there who cared about him, and I meant what I said about being honored to be part of such a loving and accepting community of hikers.

You elected to join the throngs by exposing your secret, and I applaude you for doing so. I know it wasn't an easy thing for you to do, and that you've proably regretted it.. But please don't regret it. We need more honest folks like yourself, who aren't ashamed to say that they're humans who experience trials & tribulations.

Someone questioned what that particular thread had to do with hiking... I say that it has everything to do with hiking.. It's what hikers should be all about: caring about one another, uplifting one another, and helping each other out when you're down.. This is what the hiking community -family- is all about. If others want a "perfect community", then they've chosen the wrong place.

It's been said that the trail is the "great equalizer". You could be hiking next to a doctor or lawyer and never know it. But when it comes to the physical and mental sufferings, we're all equal. We all experience the sufferings, just not all in the same form or fashion.

If someone has a problem with the "Cuckoos Nest" hikers, then it's obvious that they're in more need of mental health than others. It shows their lack of compassion for their fellow human, and lets you know that they're really not the type of person you'd want with you when you encounter trouble on the trail. Personally, I'd have Nathan at my side any day of the week because he's proven himself both as a friend and a hiker to me, and I can't say that about everyone that I met on the trail.

Chin up..

-Scott

[Nightwalker]

Chin up..

-Scott
Thanks Scott. Once again, you're a class act.

Very few things wrong with me that a long hike won't solve...

[Amigi'sLastStand]

He did open a throng up, didn't he Leg? I think it's great. And does any of this have anything to do with hiking? Your f------ A right it does. whooah.

[Nightwalker]

I'm pretty sure that I've never had a breakdown in front of thousands of people before. It's a pretty different experience, no fleekin' doubt. :-?

I've always came back to myself before. No reason to believe that I won't this time.

[Lone Wolf]

Best scene was when all the nuts went fishing posing as doctors.:D