The Most Frightening Image of All

Katy Pelchy
The Most Frightening Image of All
Choice

“It is in the wilderness where one confronts the most frightening image of all – the undiscovered self.”

I read this quote and fell in love with it. It is entirely true. What more does one fear than oneself? It seems that today, people like to keep busy busy busy. Any time of introspection is often seen as a waste, and people get antsy and nervous being alone and having time to think. Or if they do think, they think about issues in their lives, or about what they are going to be doing, as was discussed in class. In the wilderness, it’s possible to forget about what you need to do or are going to be doing and get lost in the moment. And if you are alone in the wilderness, your mind is free to wander to things that you normally wouldn’t think about if you were in a group of people, simply because of the lack of stimulus. Or, actually, a change in stimulus. The change goes from social to individual, and the wilderness acts as the background medium, allowing for the switch without making it uncomfortable. Only then, when devoid of all issues and need to think on anything else, is someone able to think on themselves. Perhaps that is why so few people choose to find solace in the wilderness: they are afraid of themselves. The self is mainly undiscovered, and will always be that way. No matter how much you look into your own soul, you will still find something new and unexpected that you didn’t know about yourself. Your own mind is the largest unexplored frontier, and it is one that no one, except maybe God, will ever truly know. It’s a scary fact, but an undeniable truth nonetheless.