Think Like a Castaway

Introduction

When I was preparing to move from my Kansas home, and live in what I hoped would be the wilds of Northern Idaho, I asked my mother if there was anything that she saw in my personality that would cause me grief on the coming years. She thought about it for a minute, probably reflecting if I really wanted to hear her verdict, and said, "you're moody".

     I thought that the assessment was probably unwarranted and speed on what I hoped would be my merry way. The years taught me otherwise and I discovered that my mother's assessment was right–I had an introspective, brooding, and too often downright melancholy nature. 

     Over the decades, like many aging and humbled former-teens, I realized my mom was right. Looking over my life my moodiness has been the most constant factor in life's struggle. I have prevailed over that struggle on many occasions but I have had reason to reflect how my life might have been better had I not had such a difficult struggle.

     Some might chastise me for regretting anything about my amazing life. I disagree. Regret like shame and guilt and many other emotions can inform us us where we can improve ourselves. Combined with the right amount of courage these emotions help guide us to a higher path. Not having the courage to admit you have done things you regret seems childish. Not to feel guilt, shame, or regret when we have done things that warrant these feelling is to not be fully human. The point is to temper them with grace and courage.

     I choose the example of the castaway, an archetypal experience canonized in books such as Robinson Crusoe and Lord of the Folies, but that has continued to hold sway over our collective subconscious. The archetype evolved over the centuries and had all but vanished in modern narrative as probabilities of being lost diminish in an ever increasing small world.

     What remains remains relevant are the strategies castaways used to survive astonishingly harsh and overwhelming situations. This book is not a primer on how to survive. It is a means to construct an inner world where in you can prevail despite your innate tendency toward melancholy or any other interior attitude that hinders you in your life's journey.

Brad Teare–Tierra del Fuego, June 2015

I hope you enjoyed this introduction. Please look for the ebook by the same title on Amazon.com in January of 2016.

Title and text copyright © 2015