Emma Joyner- In the Wild

 In the memoir, Wild, Cheryl Strayed writes, “It had only to do with how it felt to be in the wild. With what it was like to walk for miles for no reason other than to witness the accumulation of trees and meadows, mountains and deserts, streams and rocks, rivers and grasses, sunrises and sunsets. The experience was powerful and fundamental. It seemed to me that it had always felt like this to be a human in the wild, and as long as the wild existed it would always feel this way.” She reflects on the deep, inherent connection between humans and the natural world. This passage made me think back to the discussion in class about the notion of "place" and how we relate to the world around us. Strayed’s experience hiking the Pacific Crest Trail is not just about the physical challenge of the journey but about reconnecting to a sense of self through the rawness of nature. There’s a profound simplicity in her assertion that the purpose of her walk was simply to be in nature, to witness its beauty and its power without needing any justification beyond the feeling it evoked. This idea of walking for "no reason" other than to be immersed in the wild challenges our modern, goal-oriented mindset that often measures success by tangible outcomes. Strayed’s words also speak to a universal human experience. She writes that it "always felt like this to be a human in the wild," suggesting that this connection to nature is not a modern phenomenon but an ancient, almost instinctive part of who we are. Strayed’s journey offers a reminder of the deep, restorative power of nature—a reminder that, regardless of how much the world changes, the wild has always been and will always be a source of grounding and renewal. For me, Strayed’s memoir serves as a powerful call to rediscover the ways in which the wild still shapes us, even if we’ve lost sight of that connection in our everyday lives.

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