Henry Bugbee and Henry David Thoreau walked mainly to give life to the wilderness within. Their walks were essentially private excursions to self-discovery. However, their residues entered the public sphere where they invited others to follow. They served as archetypes and models that break people’s reliance on commerce and culture.
The Inward Morning is what Bugbee uses to refer to this inner breaking of our reliance to commerce and culture. This breaking reveals how we are connected to the rest of nature and brings life to our wilderness within, which interestingly allows us to tolerate and find meaning in civilization. The inward morning happens through continuous walking (see walking changes your perspective; walking could break your sense of identity).
If I am to follow the path of the people whom I say inspire me, it is inevitable that I go against the night. Almost all of them were brave enough to live their truth and know their authentic selves and by doing so serve as role models to all of us who are afraid to listen to ourselves and do what we know is right. How do I show courage? How do I respond to the call of the wild?
This line of thought inspired me to write the poem Ang Unang Liwayway.
References
Conway, D. W. (1999). Answering the Call of the Wild: Walking with Bugbee and Thoreau. In E. F. Mooney (Ed.), Wilderness and the Heart: Henry Bugbee’s Philosophy of Place, Presence, and Memory. The University of Georgia Press.