Recalling Christopher Mccandles : An Inspiring journey of a wanderer

"Face your Fears and Live Your Dreams"

Christopher McCandless in front of the 'magic bus'

Perhaps this is one of the most fitting and suitable quotes which I can relate to Christopher McCandless' life. Popularly known as Alexander Super tramp among his admirers. Some of you might be thinking why this nomadic, unshaven, homeless looking guy known as an inspiration to thousands of like-minded people around the world right. The word inspiration has many explanations, but the way Chris has defined inspiration is quite different. He is not a billionaire, not a Nobel laureate, not a movie star, not a war hero. The legacy of Christopher McCandless lies was he simply followed his burning desire to live life to the fullest. Many of us are at the grip of angst that what happens if we follow the true desire of our heart and mind. The truth is most of us are not capable of accepting the  aftermath and consequence of such an action. Chris followed his true grit and never wanted to keep his dreams and zeal to the fake guidelines of society. It's a moving story of a young man chasing his dreams to an ultimate Alaskan adventure. Unfortunately, Chris never came back.He was found perished on an abandoned Fairbanks city bus("Magic bus") on the stampede trail in Alaska. His name became popular after Jon Krakauer the famous award-winning writer wrote a book about him of the name "Into the wild".And later Sean Penn made a movie based on the novel of the same name.
Yes, there is a lot of controversy regarding the death and the way Chris went to the Alaskan journey without having  any essential gears to stay alive in the wilderness of Alaska. Let's all obliterate the pessimistic part of his story and unearth the inspirational fragments of his life.

Courage to succeed 

Christopher McCandless and a moose 

The translation of success sense to me as "Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition". Everything else  is secondary. The happiness and euphoria of doing what you designed to do are something you can't convey in words. Chris had the courage to take off alone into the wilderness. He experienced the bliss as well as the misery of living alone in the most primitive plight. We have to go beyond our comfort zone, we must strive to have the same courage. Imagine, how hard it will be when we look back on our life thirty years from now and realizes that "I let my dreams pass by me". 

"Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go" - T.S. Elliot 

Enjoy the gifts of Nature

Stampede trail

Nature can wash your spirit clean. Climbing a mountain, spending a week in the woods, Going for a crazy boat ride. The materialistic thing we care so much about today is nothing compared to this magnificent warmth of nature. His life taught me that we must have the curiosity to explore nature more.  Chris's quoted in his diary that, "The sea's only gifts are harsh blows and occasionally the chance to feel strong. Now I don't know much about the sea, but I do know that's the way it's here. And I also know how important it's in life not necessarily to be strong, but to feel strong, to measure yourselves at least once, to find yourself in at least once in the most ancient of human conditions, facing the blind deaf stones alone with nothing to help you but your hands and your own head." Being in nature will help us to evaluate our true grit, what we want in life, what we want to become.  Appreciate the beauty around us. The true magic around us. I am a pluviophile, it's nothing but someone who finds joy and peace during rainy days.  You can be a selenophile, a person who loves the moon or a ceraunophile, a person who loves lightning and thunder or a thalassophile , a person who loves seas, oceans.

"The earth has music for those who listen" - George Santayana 

Don't let materialistic things succumb your life

The writing inside the magic bus

 

We live in a materialistic world. Materialism as we call it. It's a tendency to think material objects are more important than people; desire for money over ethics. The whole life or at least the whole north American journey of Chris was to  shrug off the illusion of these materialistic things. He believed that money makes people cautious. Eventually, we will fall into that illusion and will become blind. It's such a great insight. It's to be noted that when Chris lived the popularity of mobile and internet was merely less. But today everybody is so busy checking their notifications, messages, taking selfies and are totally blind of the "reality". At some point Chris was seen burning all of his money, he didn't want money to control his life like some people,  he want to be free from society and civilization. The "ultimate freedom" he called it. We have to realize that materialism is an 'identity crisis' and we should overcome it. 

Related Reading: Five Rocking advertisements on Women Empowerment

"Trying to be happy by accumulating possessions is like trying to satisfy hunger by taping sandwiches all over your body"- George Carlin  

Passion for Reading

Emile Hirsch  as Christopher McCandless in the movie "Into the wild"

Christopher McCandless was a devoted reader. One can't complete his biography without mentioning his love for reading. Chris always found the company in the characters of the books he read. He believed that what the mind can conceive, it can achieve. He saw the great messages and potentials that classic literature's can offer. Yes, stick it in your head "Classic literature".  Some wonderful books of this category are( These books were the favorites of Chris), Crime and punishment( Fyodor Dostoyevsky), Death of Ivan Ilych( Leo Tolstoy), Call of the wild( Jack London), White fang( Jack London), Moon face( Jack London), Brown Wolf( Jack London), To build a Fire( Jack London), Doctor Zhivago( Boris Pasternak), Terminal man( Micheal Crichton), War and peace( Leo Tolstoy), Walden( Henry David Thoreau). I would say Jack London's "Call of the wild" and Dostoyevsky's "Crime and punishment" are the best of this lot.

Related Reading: Five Reasons why you should grab a book and start reading NOW!!!

"The things I want to know are in books; my best friend is a man who'll give me a book I ain't read,"- Abraham Lincoln 

About the movie 

"Into the wild" directed by Sean Penn was released in the year 2007

I don't know how to thank Sean Penn for this amazing creation. It has to be noted that most of the book turned movies failed to do justice to the original script. But this one is an exception. I would say this one is a "Classic" in its genre. Explore the internet if you want to, you will not find something epic as this one. Brilliant casting, Intense screenplay, awestruck frames, astonishing and moving music. Emile Hirsch was living on the screen. I think no one could do it better than him. Whenever we mention the name Christopher mccandles we can't ignore this tribute movie "Into the wild". The music by Eddie vedder is so touching and poignant. My favorites are "Hard sun" and "Society".

The Love for Christopher mccandles never ends. He has been an inspiration for me to try doing new things. For me it's writing, meeting new people, going places. I hope this blog might help you to get the Courage to do new things you are afraid to do. I would be happier if you share this among your friends and spread the name Christopher McCandless to more young people. 

If you want to know more about Christopher mMcCandlessthere's a website dedicated for him , http://www.christophermccandless.info/

Forest valley at sunset, photo by Mathew Maaskant

NOW GO GET LOST IN THE WOODS

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5 reasons why you should grab a book and start reading NOW!!!

Bookshelf Porn; image: stumblupon

Do you really think there would be passionate readers existing here in like 100 years? Can't we really have an opinion on it right? but you can at least analyse the fall in the intensity of “real” readers and authors.
“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”(Dr.Seuss, I can read with my eyes shut!).Stick this quote in your mind, Yes reading is a process and you will learn things that no Wikipedia could contribute.

The 5 reasons why you should read:

Time Travel

Yes Time Travel is possible

Do you really think it’s possible to time travel ever in your lifetime? Yes, Albert Einstein was widely interested in this field and he has detailed about this in the ‘Theory of relativity’ of his. The concept of time travel is nothing but you can move between one point to another in space using a machine called ‘Time machine’. But we know it still remains as one hottest invention yet to be invented. So the probability of you time travelling will remain as a dream at least in this life( Shhhh there is only one life).

A “Book” is your only shot to time travel. Yes, nothing else. You will be travelling forward to witness aliens and extraterrestrials. You will be travelling backwards to watch the origin of the universe. And all at the cost of a book. No complex relativity theory, need not be worried about a time machine, you’ll be travelling faster than the light. Yes, you have invented the hottest invention of all.(If you are really into time travelling literally then the one book comes to my mind is, ‘The time travelers wife’).

Being in the shoes of many characters

Raskolnikov in "Crime and punishment" of Fyodor Dostoyevsky

“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never read lives only one”. You might be thinking like your feet are too small to fill in that big shoes I'm talking about. It’s not the shoes we are going to fill( just a metaphor I tried), it's the wisdom and soul of all those wonderful characters we are going to seize. You will be part of the spirit of David Copperfield (David Copperfield 1850, Charles Dickens) from his childhood to his mature manhood, You will encounter fantasy creatures and do magic as Harry Potter, You will act as a member of the outer party and do spine chilling activities as Winston smith of 1984, You will do revenge at the best as Monte Cristo ( The count of Monte Cristo 1844, Alexander Dumas) and many many more. Your best character is waiting for you go for it(I am David Copperfield though).
Related : Christopher McCandless , An inspirational journey of a wanderer

Experience of new places, Culture, People, Environment

Frankenstein Castle, Darmstadt(Germany)

Reading a book will take you to places, places I last visited was Naples( Italy), Geneva( Switzerland), Ingolstadt( Germany). People were wearing elaborate wigs, rich embroidery and full skirt and remarkable wide gowns. I met mathematicians and mechanics freaks that would influence the current workings of the universe. I have witnessed the industrial revolution, the discoveries of Micheal Faraday, the Great Exhibition in London, the Klondike gold rush and lot more. Reading a book will help you more to know more about the history, the way people lived at the time the book was written, to know there are many places in the world you are unheard of. Go for a book, meet new places, culture, people and environment.(I went back to the 19th century, remember the “time machine” right?)

All the blockbuster series you watch today were once books

Game of Thrones is a series of books written by George RR martin

The 5th grand season of the famous TV show Game of thrones was just concluded this June. Although it's a tragic end to the season, it still boast of billions of fans following the series. Daenerys Targaryen, Jon Snow, Tyrion Lannister, Cersei Lannister, Arya Stark are all the beloved characters and fan favorites. But, all the above stands George R.R Martin. Yes, he is the undisputed king of this Famous blood chilling TV Show. Most of you might have heard about him if you ever watched or at least heard about the masterpiece show. Each character, Each situation, Each spine chilling conversations and events was pre-planned and stored in his brain. If there were no George R.R Martin there would be no GOT( Game of thrones). Other popular sequels of book turned movies are Harry potter, Lord of the rings, The hunger games, Insurgent.

A good book is a good friend

Books are our friends 

I have to tell you this, every time when you read a good book it's like having a good friend. When it happens it's just enchanting. A book becomes your friend when it shares the same concerns, craziness, emotions, passion and tenderness. As soon as I started reading “David Copperfield” I knew I was about to make a good friend. I felt  genuine love and care for the character, an instant affection, a deep fondness for that we shared the same experiences, a moment of laughter and pain, it's the same that you have towards a real friend of flesh and blood. When David Copperfield went back to the book shelf I thought how it touched my soul and influenced my life. Yes, a good book is a good friend. Now it’s your chance to explore the world of books and find your best friend.

Spread the word, Reading is fun and happiness.

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