ASSINIBOIA - I was reminded the other day of the movie “Jeremiah Johnson”, starring Robert Redford. It’s an old movie, a classic for sure, but it’s very well done and it touches me deeply whenever I get to watch it.
Jeremiah was a mountain man, and a man after my own heart. He chose to live a simple life alone in the mountains, because cities and modern day society - even back then when the west was being settled - displeased him.
I think today, like Jeremiah, many folks would love to drop out of society and disappear into the wilderness to avoid dealing with the world we’ve been dealt over the past two years. Sounds wonderful at first blush, but highly impractical for most of us who have jobs, family, and commitments galore.
Most of us are trapped in between the proverbial “rock and a hard place”. Extrication from our obligations and commitments is nearly impossible, but we still like to imagine that possibility. If only we weren’t so mired down in the mud of our many possessions, obligations, and debts.
There are at least two types of individuals living here in the new millennium and freak-show pandemic we find ourselves in: those of us who wish we could just disappear into the wilderness, and those who are just now finding their new identity and voice on social media.
These are the relentless seekers of attention and the spotlight. You know all too well who they are. Every other day they post a new selfie, sporting that duck-face they think is so-o-o adorable and cute. And new - they actually think the duck-face is new! These newbie intruders are so totally enamoured with themselves and the spotlight they find so readily on social media.
The rest of us just want to gag every time we see their latest look. It’s like they have Alzheimer's or something, and must keep reminding themselves of their good looks, lest they forget. Most of us know what they look like. They look silly! But never mind that.
Let them have their 15 minutes to bask and shine in the spotlight of infamy. That may be all they will ever get. As I contemplate Jeremiah Johnson’s life in the mountains, I am so-o-o envious, but am also reminded that life for him was perhaps not as sweet or as perfect as he thought it might be up there in the high country.
Like ours, his dream-world had its ups-and-downs too. But in the end, he confessed to his old friend, the ‘griz-hunter’, that his chosen path in life “weren’t no trouble at all”. He did, after all, manage to keep his hair! And that’s quite something.
Whatever path we choose in life, it seems to be a near constant struggle. No one is exempt from trouble. No one gets to escape from that little reality. The real question is, of course: are we going to let life beat us down? Or just beat us up a little? There is a difference, you know.
Over the past two years, life has whaled-away on us without mercy and left us bruised, battered, beaten, weary, and worn. I often wonder how many times we can actually keep getting up after having been beaten down so many times.
But the alternative to giving up is not a very pleasant prospect. Our ancestors knew that. Our ancestors never gave up. And their lives were every bit as difficult as ours, if not more so. What can we say then?
Be a little bulldog. Be tenacious. Lift your leg just a little bit higher. It’s a stretch, I know. But you can do it. Take a really deep breath. Dig a little deeper. You will find the strength you need to carry on.
Be like our ancestors. Don’t let life defeat you and put you in the ground. There will be plenty of time for a dirt-nap later on when the time is right. And that time is not right now! At least that’s how I see it. From where I stand …
