What Do We Need?

I just spent two weeks in Africa on safari. It was amazing, of course!

Two game drives per day – morning and evening. I watched the sun rise and set from the silent dirt trails that our Land Rover driver traversed looking for the Big Five – Elephants, Hippos, Lions, Cape Buffalo, and Leopards – and so many other animals – elands, kudus, wildebeests, impalas, zebras, giraffes, cheetahs, rhinos, monkeys, crocodiles, hyenas, warthogs, wild dogs, red foxes, countless birds, and a few bugs. I know I’m forgetting some.

I overpacked by a lot. Even though I took my malaria pills faithfully, I packed a bag full of mosquito repellent sprays, wipes, and bracelets. I might have seen one mosquito.

I packed too many shirts and pants and footwear. The weather was pretty much the same as Miami, so a couple of easy-to-wash shirts, shorts, light long pants, and sandals would have been fine. Maybe one pair of sneakers.

I prepared for a lot of discomfort by bringing inflatable seat cushions.

I brought walking sticks, but did very little hiking.

I purchased a Go-Pro camera with extra batteries, but my cellphone was more than adequate. Heavy to carry all the time.

The accommodations kept us well-fed and comfortable. No television, but we did have Wi-Fi until the last two nights. The big bag of snacks I packed was unnecessary.

So, what did I really need?

A few clothes, my phone, and a toothbrush would have covered it. Maybe some other incidentals, but I realized how much “stuff” I really don’t need.

When I was young – late teens and 20s – I moved often and drove around the country. Everything I owned fit in the back of my pick-up, and that included my 360 Honda motorcycle and a couple of boxes of paperbacks. Now, I could maybe fit one roomful of my stuff into a pick-up. A smaller room.

The African bush was also quiet. When the driver turned off the engine so we could watch the animals, all we heard were a few birds. A huge elephant can move across the grass and the road and make no sound. Even the herd of Cape Buffalo made no more than some soft lowing and an occasional clatter of hooves on rocks. No planes, no cars, no background air conditioners, just silence.

We drove past people living in small huts and houses, with goats and some cows wandering around. They were doing what any of us do – chat with each other, tend to their chores, go to work, relax with a drink as the sun goes down.

Do I want to move to Africa (or somewhere similar) and live that life? Of course not. I love living in a city, where I have everything I want within easy reach. Where I have the luxuries of a variety of stores and restaurants, one-day delivery of anything I suddenly desire – like a Go-Pro camera – and where I have cable and computers.

But here’s the thing: I know I can do without any of those things. I know the value of turning off all the electronics and going into my garden and just noticing the plants and birds. I know the joy of just being.

For those who do not know life without constant stimulation, and who cannot sit still and “just be,” I say they are in an addictive state. Addiction is always seeking more and never having enough. Recovery is being grounded, present, and totally content with being in the moment.

All we really need is recovery. Find time each day to Connect with yourself, with the Earth, and with the Universe.

Be In Light,
Carol