Pilgrimage as Self-Discovery in an Ecological Community - Trey Walton

 I'm not going to lie, it may seem silly but I had no idea what pilgrimage was before reading this article.  I thought pilgrims where those immigrants that live in New England during the early years of the discovery of America.  So I hope to learn more about pilgrimage as well as self discovery.  

I learned that pilgrimage is usually defined by a group of religious followers. At least traditionally that is.  But they are also attempting to go on a journey for self discovery.  This is why groups such as hikers can fit into the definition of pilgrimage despite not be affiliated with one particular religion.  

The story of the homeless man that was addicted to drugs and following his entry journals I think shows perfectly what kind of spiritual journey the wilderness can provide for anyone.  The quote "I could either sleep in the streets are the woods" goes to show just how low this person was before he decided to go on the AT.  Sometimes in todays world you can get in such a runt without realizing it.  If that's being addicted to drugs or depressed out of your mind due to constantly being trapped in doors.  Nature has such a unique ability to restart you, bring you back to your roots.  The spiritual awakening found in these hikes remind me a lot of the spiritual awakening found when ingesting magic mushrooms; however, much more impactful and life changing as you're completely changing your life up as compared to changing your mind for 4-6 hours. 

The sense of community within the hikers is something that sounded so special to me.  The people who wrote entries knew that the majority of people would never read their entry about their spiritual journey.  They either didn't care or wasn't there for any spiritual reason.  However, this didn't matter.  These people knew that anyone who would read their entry would respect them as they were likely going through something very similar self discovery journey.  They shared their darkest, most personal secrets, because they knew they could trust the other hikers. 

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