WhiteBlaze Pages 2024
A Complete Appalachian Trail Guidebook.
AVAILABLE NOW. $4 for interactive PDF(smartphone version)
Read more here WhiteBlaze Pages Store

Page 2 of 2 FirstFirst 1 2
Results 21 to 27 of 27
  1. #21
    Registered User Sierra2015's Avatar
    Join Date
    01-31-2014
    Location
    Nashville, Tennessee
    Age
    35
    Posts
    464

    Default

    Maybe I'm getting hung up on the word "creative". I like to think I'm a problem solver. I'm good at figuring things out. I'm also super type A. Not a lay-about day dreamer. My thoughts are more racing than dreaming.

    In my mind... creativity without a purpose is madness.

  2. #22
    Registered User 4eyedbuzzard's Avatar
    Join Date
    01-02-2007
    Location
    DFW, TX / Northern NH
    Age
    67
    Posts
    8,143
    Images
    27

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Sierra2015 View Post
    Maybe I'm getting hung up on the word "creative". I like to think I'm a problem solver. I'm good at figuring things out. I'm also super type A. Not a lay-about day dreamer. My thoughts are more racing than dreaming.

    In my mind... creativity without a purpose is madness.
    It is interesting that some of the greatest artists in history were quite mad, but others quite practical and sane problem solvers. I don't think the two traits are mutually inclusive or exclusive.
    "That's the thing about possum innards - they's just as good the second day." - Jed Clampett

  3. #23
    Registered User Just Bill's Avatar
    Join Date
    07-06-2013
    Location
    Chicago, Il
    Age
    45
    Posts
    3,770

    Default

    I agree with the basic premise Socks. Although the article was HIGHLY creative people, perhaps why most people are agreeing with some reservations.

    Long story short- not a perfect fit for all, but I would imagine every hiker can identify with several if not a good portion of those items.

    Long story long-
    The trades are a good comparison IMO. I think of backpacking more as a craft and we can all practice it to some extent. I think many outdoorsfolks are similiar in this regard and tradespeople are very creative folks in general.

    Putting around the house makes you a handyman, doing it for a living makes you a craftsman, and mastering your craft makes you an artist. When you see a mastercraftsman at work few people would have trouble appreciating or recognizing it for what it is. Perfection is beautiful, whether it's sweating a perfect joint, walking in to town with one peanut left in your food bag, or painting the Mona Lisa.

    Depending on what level you care to take the comparison too, it is very similar and the independence, creativity, adaptability, visualization and practical application of ideas is common in the trades or the hiking community. Backpackers and tradesman alike have to do more with less, deal with adversity, think on thier feet and independantly solve problems. The truly intellectual trades, art, poetry, literature, music seem to have no practical purpose and are harder to identify with but when taken to thier highest forms transform our lives in a very real and tangible way.

    Daydreaming is just that and looked upon negatively by most. On the other hand, when that daydreaming has real life results and applications as it does for the inventor, tradesman or artist then the practice is very useful. Many of my best ideas come from daydreaming- which is really just another way of saying spending time deep in your mind. It's only useless if it turns out there's nothing at the bottom of that well.

    Like Dogwood I personally think that list fits me perfectly. DW is a landscape architect and deals with both sides of the brain as well as dealing with purely artistic/conceptual ideas that must also have a literal get your hands dirty application. I have a very similiar profession that is hard to explain. Those types of folks are rare. The list provided was for highly or extreme versions of creative people. I can tell you that the list was not all positive and as you can see from Dogwood's behavior and my own- not always an enviable mind to have or get a harness on. As other's mentioned, some of these folks mail thier ears to people and some find balance between the creativity and the practical like DaVinci. If you're not one of these people be glad, it's often little fun.

    In that article there was a link to a TED talk about flow. That concept I have written about before and I think that it is the main reason I am attracted to hiking and the ideal I seek when travelling. This concept goes hand in hand with the more spiritual aspects as well. Whether speed hiking, writing, or working entering a flow state is something I think many hikers understand very well. That video if you missed it-http://www.ted.com/talks/mihaly_csik...ihalyi_on_flow

    Good topic Socks!

  4. #24
    Registered User
    Join Date
    08-05-2013
    Location
    Greeneville tennessee
    Posts
    69

    Default

    It's amazing how the solitude makes your and nature makes your senses so much more alert.i feel way more intelligent and alive out on the trail than in society

  5. #25
    Registered User
    Join Date
    05-03-2005
    Location
    Rockingham VT and Boston, MA
    Age
    75
    Posts
    1,220
    Images
    1

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Tuckahoe64 View Post
    I do not like being out of my comfort zone or routine. When I am hiking, I have never thought that I was out seeking new experiences.
    Me too. I just like to hike and be in the woods. I don't understand all that other stuff at all.
    Everything is in Walking Distance

  6. #26
    Registered User
    Join Date
    06-10-2005
    Location
    Bedford, MA
    Posts
    12,678

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Sunshine82 View Post
    It's amazing how the solitude makes your and nature makes your senses so much more alert.i feel way more intelligent and alive out on the trail than in society
    Something like this... is what I was trying to say earlier. There's just something primal about being in the woods, and I can believe that the attraction is nearly universal. I can believe that it's suppressed and buried deep, in a lot of humans.

    I'm not convinced that hiking correlates with creativity (vague as that term may be) though I'd guess it does relate to risk-taking, self-confidence, financial and physical health, free time, etc.

  7. #27
    Registered User
    Join Date
    04-03-2013
    Location
    Marianna, Florida
    Age
    74
    Posts
    140

    Default

    Hikers are just good observers and learners. If you have been following the 2014 trail journals, you have found folks who have started completely unprepared with clothing & equipment. Some of these adapted and are still on the trail while others are -- well the AT provides proof of Darwin's grand idea of natural selection. Why they are unprepared is anyone's guess and lies in their psyche. Good Luck to us all!

Page 2 of 2 FirstFirst 1 2
++ New Posts ++

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •