A Purpose Shaped Life

It has been a month since Granny had to hang up her Pacific Crest Trail Mom Hat.  It was a fun, exciting hat to wear, making fruit leather, mailing re-supply boxes, checking GPS coordinates and having so many of you follow that NOBO trail with her. The PCT gave the summer of 2018 extra purpose.  But fall is here, Mission is back in school and Granny  needs a new purpose and a Hat to go with it.  Someone once wrote a book about a life driven by purpose, but a purpose shaped life may be more what Granny Hat is hoping for.

A dear friend, recently retired from a long and very successful elementary school teaching career, expressed feeling a certain lack of purpose these days.  Her life went from being scheduled and micro-managed to being wide-open and flexible.  Sounds wonderful, doesn’t it?  Our day dream Utopias always consist of plenty of time to spend doing whatever it is we never have time to do.  No deadlines, no stress, and please, I’ll take a palm tree on a beach.  But Granny Hat suspects we are creatures of habit and thrive best when we have a trail and a map, a goal and a purpose.

By the way, everyone should learn to read a map.  Our Google maps app can be useful but we are losing some basic navigational skills such as north-south-east-west awareness, calculating distance, having an overview of where we are going and what we might see when we get there.  Following that voice on our hand-held device (Granny’s guide has a pleasant New Zealand accent) keeps us in the dark until we are told to turn.  We aren’t anticipating, planning or even being observant, just blindly following.  It is alarming!  But Granny digresses.  Back to goals and purposes….Granny is contemplating taking up a new challenge but it will take a bit of background to explain it adequately.

The Pacific Crest Trail is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.  The latest association magazine featured an article by PCTA information manager, Jack Haskel in which he stated that “modern ultralight backpacking was born on the PCT.” He tells the story of Ray and Jenny Jardine who “started the ultralight movement during the era of heavy packs, introducing radical ideas about weight that jump started an industry.”  This power hiking duo trekked from Mexico to Canada in 1987 and again in 1991, then authored a book titled The PCT Hiker’s Handbook. The book was largely about the art and skills of power-hiking.  After through-hiking the Continental Divide Trail (CDT) in 1992 followed by the Appalachian Trail (AT) in 1993, they became convinced that packs and gear were just too heavy for long distance treks and even sewed their own smaller, lighter backpacks.  The new improved 1996 edition of their book detailed their new ultralight approach to hiking and launched the gear revolution.

Granny Hat has never ever been good at traveling light, somehow the comforts of home just jump into her suitcase un-aided when she looks the other way.  That extra sweater or two, jewelry that doesn’t even match the outfits she planned, lotions, good books to read, three or four pairs of shoes, tea bags.  She has always been amazed at how little her backpacking husband takes on a trip. She is also ashamed that he always has to help carry her heavy suitcases.

Traveling light through life is an art.  Granny Hat watched Mission return home and promptly purge his room of all non-essential possessions.  His goal was to move back to Orange County will all his belongings in one backpack. He donated piles of clothing, fishing gear and books. His closet has extra room in it now and looks amazing.  Granny’s closets tell the tale of having lived in her present home for 36 years, accumulating five kids worth of books, stuffed animals, nick-knacks, toys, games, craft supplies and scrapbooks.  The burden of it all is getting hard to carry, impossible to keep dusted and polished.  It is time to go ULTRALIGHT!

But now Granny Hat has a problem.  It was easy blogging and bragging about PCT progress while Mission did all the work.  For Granny to go Ultralight and share the experience she will have to do the work herself.  And then so many of the hoarded possessions tell sweet, memorable stories.  Granny may be wearing this new hat for some time. She is pretty sure this journey is fraught with danger, not bears or rattlesnakes, fire and ice but separation anxiety and perhaps a spider bite or too in a dark closet.

Just a few images of some of Granny Hat’s cramped closets.  A lot of stuff has to come out of the closet, just saying.  Keep posted.  You can help keep Granny accountable.  Or be inspired yourself.  Let’s go Ultralight!