Seth Godin, a writer of some acclaim,
blogged an interesting piece that I’d like to share. I’m on his
mailing list and without fail, he sends out copies of his blog each
day that are usually thought provoking and inspirational. The one
that caught my eye today was titled: Civilization.

As is Seth’s way, he can take a topic
that is mundane and obvious, and explore it and awaken you to aspects
of the topic you may never have considered. A good portion of the
world lives in “civilization” today, but many do not. People that
live in places where 14 year-old girls are shot for blogging, or
people have their heads removed because they “look different” are
not living in civilizations.

One line he wrote really caught my eye:
“We don’t need more stuff. We need more civilization.” How
true. When I wrote my story about hiking the Appalachian Trail, Three Hundred Zeroes, I finished the last chapter with that theme. I
discovered that, even though I was walking through some very remote
country, I was walking through a civilization that was comfortable
with itself. I started the walk in the deep south of the United
States and ended up in the farthest northern region and yet there was
a common bond to be found all along the way. Everywhere I went I was
greeted by friendly people and made to feel at home.

Many, if not most of those I met, had
very little in the way of worldly goods, yet what they had, they
shared willingly. Total strangers invited me into their homes, fed me
and asked nothing in return. They could all “use” more stuff,
many would be considered “poor,” but they didn’t measure their
wealth in the size of their car (if they had one) but rather in the
size of their hearts. I’ll never forget those people.

In the book’s last chapter I talked
about the impact all of this and the effect it had on me. When Jane
and I went off to walk the Camino de Santiago last year, we carried
our world on our backs, in our backpacks, and we were walking in
bliss. As long as we had enough to eat and a place to sleep at night,
we were content.

Sometimes, less, truly is more.

Civilization