Survival

I am completely fascinated with books, movies and television shows about surviving. I am not sure where it started…possibly with the movie Swiss Family Robinson – which I remember loving as a very small child. Something about that really cool treehouse with running water always drew me in.

I continued to seek out books about surviving…"Baby Island", "Hatchet", "Alive"…you name it and I read it. As you can imagine, the reality show "Survivor" was custom made for me.

I am completely convinced that if I ever get in a plane crash in the middle of the ocean, I will be able to make fire, build a shelter and find food. I might even make a friend out of a volleyball.

This week, having discovered a new show on my Netflix called "Dual Survival", I have been wondering why I am so drawn to these shows. And the conclusion I have come to is that it is not about fear. I am not one of those people who actually think any of this will happen to me. I don’t carry a pocket knife and emergency kit with me wherever I go "just in case". I don’t scan the plane for emergency exits and plot my path in case the little masks drop down.

I think it is more about the adventure and self-reliance that hooks me. This came to me in a flash this week watching "Dual Survival". The entire premise involves two survivalists who are put into a survival scenario that people could find themselves in. They have to find their way out of the situation (think run out of gas in the middle of the desert, go on a hike in caves and get lost, etc).

There is a segment on the show that is called "The Art of Self-Reliance". It shows some little tip on how to do something (find water, make fire, find edible plants…). But the name really struck me. I think I am drawn in by the idea of relying on myself to survive and find rescue. Not sitting around feeling like a victim, but putting my knowledge and brain to work to get myself out of a situation – however unexpected.

There is something deeply messed up about that. Where did I ever get the idea that I needed to prepare myself to rely only on my own wits to survive? That I might need to fend for myself and get myself out of bad situations without relying on other people?

I have no answers for this…I just find it very interesting and have been thinking about it this week. Perhaps I need to focus more on the adventure piece than the survival piece. I am just saying…