Listen to Joanna's Silent Adventures

Editor's Foreword:

 In order to be silent, is it necessary to go that far? And just so dangerous? Or the pursuit of inner silence, giving yourself a reason to yearn for the distance, what kind of distance? Are there some splendid landscapes that can only be seen when they are on the verge of physical and mental limits?

"Desire to die in the hands of nature" was actually a paranoid idea that the editor-in-chief had not figured out yet, so he wanted to find someone to talk to. Joanna raised her hand immediately, and she said that she just had a story to share. I think she has a kind of contrasting cuteness, she has a gentle appearance, and her voice in the podcast is also soft and soft, but her action is super strong. From the piranha cuisine in the Amazon rainforest to the celestial camp in Iceland, she can't hold her. An adventure that opens your heart to the world.

Come and hear what she has to say.

"Suffix": Can you talk about your near-death experience in the face of nature?

@Joanna: I'm the type of person who wants to try it out the more I'm blocked. Growing up, my sister used to think of me: "Why do you keep doing things that worry your family!" My mother always called me "cowardly" (Taiwanese, it means stupid, so I'm so bold).

Thinking back carefully, I was just doing what I wanted to do, and I didn't feel like it was something to worry about right now.

In January of that year, the news continued to broadcast the upcoming overlord-level cold snap, which happened to be the date I climbed the snow-capped mountain. Mom wants me not to go, but I think it should be fine to follow a mountaineering group with a professional leader and guide, right? The more she asked, the more determined I wanted to go. (For the detailed process, please refer to "Don't Dim Your Light to Make the Stars Shine ")

I carefully prepared the list of items given by the travel agency in advance, and I also called to confirm the details one by one, and even asked the mountaineering coffee, but the travel agency may not have considered the equipment required for the heavy snow brought by the cold current.

As a result, a fool who has never been to the mountains carried his sister's big backpack to school, bottled drinking water in PET bottles, borrowed his brother-in-law's hiking shoes (one size bigger than me), and did not have enough clothes to keep out the cold, nor a sleeping bag suitable for the temperature below zero. …

As a result, the altitude sickness and the cold kept me awake for two nights in the mountains. At 2 am the next day, the guide woke everyone up and said they were going to the top, but the other women in the group gave up. There was no inner struggle or bravado at the time, and I decided to go.

Walking into the black forest where the snow covered the path, crawling up and down in the snowdrifts, over some almost impossible cliffs, plus the frozen water from the bottle, I barely drank any water. On the most dangerous sections of the road, struggling to cross some almost impossible mountain walls and cliffs, it was then that I suddenly realized that I might die.

Then I thought about my mother. Will she be sad if I die? Will you regret it? I hope there is no regret, I choose to forgive her, and I also ask her forgiveness in my heart.

Thinking of this, I was rather calm, surrendered, and focused. At that moment, I seemed to be able to look at the intertwined pains of the past from a higher perspective, and I felt relieved.

Always dying before choosing to forgive or be forgiven? Did you really forgive your mother after that?

In the face of death, it seems that many of them will naturally let go. After all, they are about to die, and there is nothing to grab for ego, right?

Then after the crisis, I came back to life, and I felt that I couldn't get over the hurdle in my heart again.

The biggest shock at the time was the discovery—it turned out that for me, my mother was still the first person I would think of when I was in crisis, and the person I cared about the most. Compared with the cold handling of the relationship between the two in real life, I realize that my homework is not finished yet.

When the depression came back later, I still spent a lot of time dealing with my relationship with my mother (or rather, the tangle in my head).

I don't know the entanglement between you and your mother, but if one day your mother suddenly wanted to say a few emotional words to you, a few words that you might be relieved of after listening to, what kind of words do you hope they would be?

In fact, she has already said it.

A few years ago, I told her that my depression was taking medication and consulting, sorting out and facing some things that I felt pain and couldn’t understand since I was a child (the general idea seems to be the case).

"Sometimes adults don't always do the right thing," she said to me.

I feel like this is her way of saying sorry.

Has the experience of putting yourself on the verge of death affected you in any way?

It’s interesting to say that after writing this article, I recalled my various attempts in the past (reckless), only to realize that I seem to be living too safely now?

It may be that he felt that he treated his body too badly in the first half of his life, and now he is working hard to protect it. It may also be said that the longer you live, the better you know how to find resources to make yourself safer and more comfortable in the process of adventure.

During a trip around the world, the companion storyteller had two near-annihilations. I've found that in a relationship, if one person has a certain extreme trait, the other person balances out on the other side. For example, if one person does not pay much attention to money, the other person will work hard to make money. One is very rushed, and the other is bound to become the role of stepping on the brakes. It's just that I used to rush and make the people around me scared to death, but when I was with the storyteller, it was me who stepped on the brakes. I really don't like playing this role.

Is it too far?

I feel like I'll try to prepare, but will it be near death, as if it's not up to me to decide?

Ask yourself, I like taking risks, but while writing, I found that I haven’t taken risks for a long time, and I’m still thinking about what happened to me.

Before climbing the snow mountain, do you have any experience of climbing other mountains? What unexpected difficulties did you face when actually climbing a snowy mountain?

I had never climbed a mountain before, or even the pre-climbing test—the 3,000-meter Hehuan Mountain.

On the first night, I didn't bring an extra set to replace because the sweat soaked the inner layer (underwear and sweatshirt), the cold in the mountains and the hard wooden bed, I shivered all night, listening to Others can't fall asleep with the happy ups and downs of snoring. The next day was another day of challenges.

You don't need to carry your own food when participating in a group of a mountaineering travel agency. But because the water line of 369 Villa was burned by climbers that year, everyone had to carry their own drinking water up the mountain. The mountaineering club said about 1 liter of water a day, and I roughly estimated 3 liters for 3 days and 2 nights, so I went to the supermarket and moved 3 large bottles of PET bottles, but I did not see that one bottle was actually 1.5 liters. That is, I carried 4.5 liters of water on my back….

The backpack I used is a large backpack borrowed from my sister. Although it has a large capacity, it has no carrying system. On the way to the crying slope, I really wanted to cry. It wasn't because my legs were sore (of course they were), but my shoulders kept screaming and the straps were so tight I could barely breathe.

The constant torment of my body and mind left me no time to think but to focus on the next step, one more step. Inhale, exhale, inhale. I remember what my dad said: "Short your stride uphill so your calf doesn't cramp."

Out of breath but still going on, it is very similar to the 108 "Sun Salutation A" or "Ashtanga" (yogis jokingly called this genre translated as "lifeless tired") practiced on the first day of the new year. Repeated movements, What is the meaning of physical and mental training? Maybe not having any meaning is the point. Efforts to spit out waste and inhale oxygen under the limit, the tempering of body and mind brings the effect of cleansing the soul, just like the Catharsis (purification) brought about by the Greek tragedy. Then, something grows from within (two dots under "what").

The weather is not bad during the day, and it won't get cold if you walk all the time. When I arrived at 369 Villa in the afternoon, it was already minus 2 degrees below zero. On the second night, my head hurt and my tinnitus was very loud. The travel agency gave me two sleeping bags. I was wearing a fur hat, but it was so cold that I couldn't sleep. It is very painful to lie down and not fall asleep. I walked out of the mountain house and found that the temperature inside the mountain house was almost the same as the temperature outside.

At 2 am the next day, the guide woke everyone up and said they were going to the top, but the other women in the group gave up. Why climb mountains? Why do you have to go on when it's so painful? I didn't ask myself that. I just know I'm going and I'm not giving up here.

The black forest has been covered with snow, and the path disappeared overnight. We got on the crampons and climbed up and down in the snowdrifts. This group of people seemed to be intoxicated. No one stopped, no one asked if they wanted to turn back .

🎧 Podcast Lazi Happy Life EP21 < Sports we like each other > (27:20 Started talking about the experience of climbing the snow mountain this time)

 Of course, the sound file is more vivid than the text description. Those who are interested in climbing mountains really need to listen to Joanna's painful experience. It's funny enough just for the storyteller to tease her as "Miss Treasure Bottle", because normal people prepare a thermos to receive the hot water from the mountain house. As a result, the novice took out the shiny "frozen water", eh , it's really difficult to make other people not laugh and squirt!

Why do you like to pursue adventure?

Maybe there's a bit of a risk factor in it. Since I was a child, I was a kid who climbed high and low, fell to and fro, drowned twice and broke my collarbone. (Refer to "It is my destiny to live to the present ")

I like to try and experience.

Ideas that sprout in my head, I try. If someone stops me, I'll have to try it myself.

Why can't you say hello when you see adults? Why can I only study and not play basketball? Why can't high school students fall in love? Why do you have to be an office worker? Why get married and have children to prevent old age?

Their rules and rhetoric never convince me, and I'm always different from their expectations. I don't think I'm rebellious (it might be more like being stubborn), I just have my own path and things I want to try. As a result, I kept making revolutions and quarreling with my parents and family.

A few years ago my sister switched from lecturing (broken thoughts) to telling me that she would support me in doing all the things I wanted to do. I was so touched that she saw the real me.

Also talk about the accident that your partner storyteller almost died twice, right?

During the trip around the world, some foreign friends took us to the Isar River (Germany Isar River) for barbecue. There was a very fast section, like the Xiuguluan River in the rainy season. Many foreigners were diving. Jump down and drown . Fortunately, the immediate current carried her to the bank. The above are all recounted by others or storytellers, because at the same time I was drinking beer and watching the scenery in the shallows.

The second time, Aber, a Swiss sofa surfer, took us to swim in the lake. The storyteller swam out, panicked and drowned when he found that he couldn't step on the bottom . I didn't have lifesaving training and couldn't help at all, so I hurriedly screamed for help, and Abo pushed her towards the river bank before she stepped on the ground.

Her argument is that she can't swim because she doesn't have a frog mirror.

So the storyteller is going the comedian route?

She really likes talking about talk shows, and has gone to talk about Open Mic a few times, and even participated in talk show competitions. But for the frog mirror, no matter how many times I questioned it, she still answered seriously: "I can't swim because I don't have a frog mirror. "

🎧 Podcast Lazi's Happy Life EP19 "Dangers and Accidents Encountered During a Journey Around the World" (32:10 Started talking about storyteller drowning)

 In fact, the storyteller's impulsiveness or degree of self-control is not as choking as Joanna's. After diving in with the wind, he realized that he "can't swim without frog glasses"! Then, in a seemingly quiet lake in Switzerland, Ah was drowning again!

What's the craziest thing you've done outside of nature's adventures?

Probably climbed from the second floor to the first floor in the middle of the night in high school to escape home. I was stuck in the middle and couldn't go up and down, because I couldn't find the point of strength, and then I was in a hurry. I supported the next door neighbor's wall, stepped on the wall with one hand and one foot in the movie, and the body was in a big-shaped posture, and went down a short distance. , and then climb the bars.

How much do you want to die at the hands of nature? How to die?

At the beginning of February this year, I learned from the article of the Icelandic blogger I followed that a helicopter was missing from the radar, and the police searched for it for several days. It was later learned that the plane turned out to be American extreme skateboarder Josh Neuman, who was only 22 years old in the crash.

Neuman's record is a speed of 112 kilometers on a skateboard.

Because Neuman was playing extreme skateboarding, he must have thought about the possibility of encountering accidents in the challenge, but the reason for his death in the end was a helicopter crash.

I think my own death is still left to the universe to arrange for me. If you don't do what you want to do because you are afraid of death, and then die because of a bird thing, your soul may feel very sick.

I like topics that go beyond the limits, and I recommend books like "The Hot Blooded Life at Ninety Degrees Vertical", "The Man Sleeping on the Cliff", and I would like to recommend "Listening to the Silence" in particular.

Erling Kagge, the author of " Listening to the Silence ", is the first explorer in human history to conquer the three poles. He walked across the Antarctic alone. Who can be more qualified to talk about silence than him? (And the writing is so good!)

He wrote while hiking alone in Antarctica:

 "Every time I stop to rest, if the wind just stops, there is a deafening stillness around me. When the wind is still, even the snow seems silent. I am more and more aware of the world I am in. I am neither bored nor I don't feel disturbed. I'm alone with my thoughts and thoughts. The future doesn't matter anymore. The past doesn't matter. I only exist in this moment of life. The philosopher Heidegger said, once you're in the world, the world disappears. Exactly that feeling.

I became an extension of my surroundings. There was no one to talk to, so I started a dialogue with nature. Thoughts crossed the plain and were sent to the other side of the mountain, and other thoughts were sent back. "

" I exist only in this moment of life. The philosopher Heidegger said, once you are in the world, the world disappears ", much like the words of the enlightened meditator. Although I am not yet enlightened, at some point during my climbing and yoga sessions, I seem to be able to feel what he calls stillness.

What kind of adventure do you think will welcome you next time? (Do you anticipate your next adventure?)

It is expected that after 10 years (when the dog egg dies), he will set off to travel around the world again, and the time will be longer (7 months for the first time), and the route may be more random.

At that time, because I heard that Indian train tickets are very difficult to book, I pre-arranged a three-week itinerary, but I was very uncomfortable. Afterwards, the travel will remain mobile, and if you really don't like a place, you will immediately decide to leave. For example, when I went to Laos, I took a 9-hour bus ride from Longpo Bang to a small town in the south. After a day of playing, I felt it was fine, and the next day I took a 9-hour bus ride back.

Currently on the list are Norway, Australia, New Zealand, Madagascar, the Great Migration, Canada, and again the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador (animal paradise, the birthplace of Darwin's theory of evolution).

Of course, I still hope that it won't take that long, and I can experience more while I can run, jump, and suffer.

Joanna's podcast with the Storyteller

❑ Editor-in-chief postscript:

 I believe that people are designed to explore the world, to explore silence, nothingness or loneliness, to try all kinds of new things. The French philosopher Blaise Pascal said: "All the problems of human beings stem from the inability to stay in a room alone and quietly." Does the so-called quietness mean doing nothing?

Perhaps the pursuit of silence cannot be achieved overnight. It is not to stay in the room quietly and pretend to turn off the senses, but it must be practiced and deeply realized. After reading the book, put it down, go out for a walk, and go to the wilderness to find inner peace! Yes, I'm talking about that movie, I'm going out for a while (Ich bin dann mal weg, 2015).

The French philosopher Blaise Pascal said: "All the problems of human beings stem from the inability of people to stay in a room alone and quietly." His book "Thoughts" should be used to refer to the excessive exploration of external things. To the point of blind obedience, and forget to listen to the inner voice of the individual, the true voice of the heart.

If it is applied to the writing method, that is, life writing, that is, "writing for health preservation", in the face of one's inner black hole, those insurmountable knots or difficulties, and writing for the sake of physical and mental balance.

❑ Further reading:

Pascal discovered the Euclidean proposition in his teenage years, invented the first mechanical computer in history, studied the theorems of hydrostatics, and developed the concepts of limit and infinitesimal in the field of mathematics, laying the foundation for the proposal of calculus in the future. foundation.

What really made Pascal famous in history is his philosophical essay "Thoughts", and Bacon's "On Life", Montaigne's "Essays", side by side with the three classic Western essays. "Your Pascal Department? Follow Pascal to see the human mind