Deployment 21: Gunaikurnai land.
2.5 SE of Melbourne.
I was on a long Zoom the other day, the light fading as the blue lights from our screens lit up the rooms we sat in and it suddenly occurred to me; we have access to more of the world than ever, but we’re experiencing less of it.
Remote working has removed social interaction, travel restrictions have clipped our wings. Without a sense of our place in the world, we become disconnected from it; existence measured only by who is on the other end of a video call or email, four walls connected to another four walls. You only truly realise that when you remove them.
Want to get an instant understanding of how small our issues are in the grand scheme of things? There’s nothing quite like throwing your arms around a tree that’s been alive for hundreds of years. The wilderness is such a good antidote to modern life precisely because it dwarfs us; natural wonders like rivers and mountains care not for our spreadsheets or earnings calls.
Out in the middle of nowhere, distraction-free with only rolling hills and a few birds for company, the truth about what matters naturally presents itself. Oh, and the stars at night are pretty good for that, too.
