Spiritual Subsistence Hunting
Morning Thoughts #117
You can still hunt beyond the sport of it. In fact, the continued duality of man depends upon it! Build a treestand on any supermarket roof, it’s spirit rather than flesh you’re after now. Just as wildlife learns to avoid well-trafficked trails, if you keep only to your regular day-to-day routines, you will see little of interest. And your soul will go hungry.
The modern form of subsistence hunting is the search for meaning. Hunt for adventure - you’ve got to hack through to the new! It’s not in the spirit of survival, it’s for the spirit’s very survival! Our comfort makes sport of every physical need, the desperate stakes are for spiritual meaning itself. The excess of available entertainment crowds out art, real art, that feeds rather than drugs the spirit! Finding no cultural space, greater meaning heads back to the wilderness (going native!). And we’re left to depend on daily hunts for any kind of inspiration for the sake of our soul’s subsistence!
When you’re hungry, a squirrel is better than a stuffed elk’s head. Every once traditionally domesticated spiritual answer has been let go - slaughtered or returned to the wild. Can you feel your soul’s growing hunger pains? There’s only one response, we must grab our cobbled weapons (intuition, focus, and perception), and head out on another hunt. Today, friends, may you choose some adventure, even a small one, so that your soul may have its daily meal.