Nature

I watched the movie “Hero” tonight. It’s one of my favorite kung fu films, a bit over stylized for my tastes, but the choreography is pretty good and I love the cinematography. I like the use of nature and landscape images to evoke emotions. There’s something enormously powerful in nature photographs. They seem to contain so much history, meaning, beauty and truth. Taking out the human element and presenting the world in its purest, oldest state; a snapshot of how the planet has and will continue to live thousands of years, with or without people, makes me feel very humble. I think there is a lot we can learn from just sitting and observing the landscape. Images of nature help me reflect on life and seem to have a strong nostalgic link to my past.

I’m lucky to have grown up in a family that was fairly involved with the outdoors. I used to be in Junior Forest Wardens, this and Kung Fu are the best things I’ve ever done. The Junior Forest Wardens group I was in is the best in the country. We were always going on trips and doing neat things instead of sitting in a room having meetings. We did tons of backpacking, cross-country skiing, canoeing and survival skills exercises. I’ve spent a great deal of time in the mountains and I think it’s had an extremely positive influence on my character. I think everyone should try to spend time out in the wilderness and try to become a little more in tune with nature. Things like climbing a mountain, cross-country skiing on untouched snow at the foot of a glacier or sleeping in your own shelter made of logs and pine boughs in the dead of winter are all great experiences for boosting confidence and seeing more perspective on life.

The simplicity of having nothing to worry about except getting to your next destination, having something to eat and somewhere to sleep can be very relaxing. Being out on the trail with all the time in the world to sit and look at the world around you, forgetting about all your worries, is the best vacation I can think of. The summer of 07’ was the first time I actually felt like I was leaving my modern worries behind when I was on vacation. I was on the West Coast Trail and after the third day of sitting on the beach reading “Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance” I felt weight coming off my shoulders and reached one of the most peaceful states I’ve ever achieved. I still manage to go out on adventures but I’m disappointed in myself for not going nearly as much as I used to. I’m going to make a conscious effort to go out more from now on.

Good films always seem to put me in a broody mood. So the movie is what inspired this latest journal entry and topic. Its times like these where I seriously consider dropping off the face of the earth and living on a mountain or in a valley in some foreign country, flee from all my commitments and live a simple life far from major civilization. I admire what a lot of people from the Kwoon are doing in China. There’s a bunch of people traveling and training there right now and I kind of wish I was there with them. I might be a bit or a romantic but I could see myself living happily in a cabin on the outskirts of some insignificant village in China, like something from a scene in Crouching Tiger.

I remember the last shot in “Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon” is of a mountain standing above everything veiled in mist. That single image of a mountain ends the movie so perfectly that it will forever be burned in my mind. “Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon” is one of my favorite movies and my all time favorite Kung Fu film. It’s my favorite Kung Fu film not just because of the action or choreography (which I still think is unrivaled and I haven’t seen a movie do better) but because of the quality of its story characters, writing, acting and cinematography. It’s a brilliant film, not just an assortment of actions scenes slapped together, and I think there is a severe lack of Kung fu films like this that encapsulate the essence of Kung Fu so well. I wish more film makers would take martial arts seriously and create higher quality films. I highly recommend “Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon” to anyone who cares to listen or give me an excuse to talk about it.