180 turn

"You learn that whats important is how you got there, not what you've accomplished" Yvon Chouinard

I watched a great documantary the other day called '180 degrees South - Conquerers of the Useless'.

Its about Jeff Johnson, a surfing and climbing enthusiast who decides to take an extended trip and re-traces the footsteps of Yvon Chouinard (Patagonia clothing founder) and best mate Doug Tomkins (who founded The North Face company) on their surfing and climbing adventure from California to Patagonia back in the 60's. An epic journey that changed their lives forever and inspired Jeff to do the same.

After months of travel, sailing and then being shipwrecked on Easter Island, Jeff's dream comes true and he makes it to Patagonia to surf and climb the almost unclimbable Mt Fitzroy.

In the doco Yvon Chouinard talks about not taking a backward step at any stage. He says "You just need to stop, turn 180 degrees and take another forward one". He is referring to his and Doug's attempts to conserve the natural wonder of Patagonia by trying to stop the damming of rivers in the region for hydro-electricity. Although a good source of energy for us city dwellers, it completely wipes out the rivers natural ecosystems and destroys small communties who rely on it. He urges these private companies who are building the dam's to stop, see the damaging affects, change what they are doing and move forward.

Thats a great example to follow with anything thats served up in life. Somedays I find things inevitabley seem to get too hard. I have to remember to regroup, refocus rather than going backwards, stop, turn a 180 and move forward.

To try and conserve Patagonia's natural state, Yvon and Doug have used much of their personal fortunes to now own over 2 million acres of what they call 'The last wild place on earth'. Incredible.

Its a really moving and powerful message you get from this documentary. It poses the question - Should we all be stripping back to basics, living simply and conserving the natural state of this world that we all rely on rather than unintentionally destroying it?