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Taproot: A Journal of Outdoor Education

Joshua Bochniak

Abstract

The idea of solitude is no stranger to outdoor enthusiasts. Its virtues have been heralded for millennia. Clerics, monks, priests, and laity from numerous religions and cultural traditions have found value in solitude since the beginnings of recorded history. Modern Transcendentalists, most notably Thoreau and Emerson, praised solitude as a means to escape the swelling tide of civilization. Granted, most conscientious proponents of solitude also warn of its excess, but overwhelmingly, the idea of solitude is historically one that pulls at the inner yearnings of the human heart. How is it then that an afternoon’s observation on a university campus yields enough evidence to suggest that the contemporary view of solitude is anything but concurrent with the historical view? What causes so many young people to walk down the street listening to an iPod while talking on a cell phone? Richard Louv’s concept of nature-deficit disorder provides an explanation of what is happening to children and adults as nature becomes less important and accessible to society. The pace of our lives has increased, and despite our best efforts as proponents of solitude and leisure, we practitioners often succumb to the very same driving pace, one that contributes to our own nature-deficit. If life provides no time to slow, then it certainly provides no time for nature. What can be done to break the pace and return us to a mode of thinking in which solitude is both heralded and practiced?

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