Hiking, True Connection and Information Overload
Nov 22, 2024
“They joined Facebook to stay in touch with friends across the country, and then ended up unable to maintain an uninterrupted conversation with the friend sitting across the table.” Cal Newport, Digital Minimalism
I had a friend ask me a few years back why I like hiking. I was caught off guard by such a straightforward question. The answer was something I felt and internalized, but hadn’t spent much time trying to articulate. I struggle with the sentiment that technology has us more connected now than ever. We’re more distracted now than ever. We “connect” by sending videos, articles, and social media posts, by “thumbs upping”, “hahaing” and “hearting”. True connection is profound. But the word is overused and has lost meaning.
Consider the amount of time you spend on your phone each day. Our phones have a nice little reminder of how often we’re using them. It feels more and more difficult to protect uninterrupted time. Even when hanging out with friends, how often do you find yourself tempted to pull out your phone?
Hiking puts me in an environment with fewer distractions. It offers up a chance to block out the incoming tidal wave, and meaningfully tune into the moment, my surroundings and other people. In the movie “For Love of the Game”, pitcher Billy Chapel says the phrase “clear the mechanism” to filter out crowd noise and distractions, and intensely focus on executing the perfect pitch. Unfortunately, clearing the mechanism is more challenging in practice than saying the words. I think this is ironically why some people say they don’t like hiking. It can feel nice to constantly have something to distract ourselves with. Hiking is “boring”. It forces us to be with ourselves and our thoughts, and challenges our brains to adapt, to slow down to a manageable level where we’re able to think and process clearly.
This is why the word clarity comes up so much when I think about spending time outdoors. It’s a feeling, like the way I’m interacting with the world is producing a higher resolution image, a higher quality connection. By engaging every distraction, we’re training our minds to be a low-quality camera, to overwhelm it with the amount of info we intake, and we end up with a low-resolution feeling. Our brain is overloaded, and it sputters to keep up, leaving our minds with a heavy, San Francisco fog. We struggle to identify what is vital and what isn’t. When in this mode, everything feels more challenging. It’s exhausting. What should I prioritize? Why do I feel run down? Why do I feel disconnected?
There are ways to simplify. By reducing inputs, by getting outdoors, we clear the inbox of our mind. We have the space and energy to see clearly, to connect more intentionally. This is why I like hiking. It is mental housekeeping. It’s a tidy desk, a clean slate, an empty canvas. It’s not surprising when interacting with people outdoors and barriers seem to be lifted. This occurs with close friends and complete strangers. It’s easier to connect. Some of the most meaningful, deep conversations I’ve had occurred on the trail, in a tent, or over a fire.
Why do you like to hike? #offandout
Jordan