29082011

But aren't we all running?

Running isn't always escaping, neither is it always excercising. The way I see it, running is escaping from the stay-put state of mind and excercising your own thought stream. It's a physically exhausting state but a mentally refreshing one. I am not too much of a long-distance runner myself, even though I enjoy the free-spirit feeling running for an hour gives you. But there are some people, quite a few of them actually, who run for distances unimaginable.

The Tarahumara people live in the northern part of Mexico. They are an indigenous people and a vast majority of them still hold on to a traditional lifestyle. They live inside caves or small wooden cabins, farm corn and bean and raise their cattle themselves. They also run, for hundreds of miles.

The distances the Tarahumara run are sometimes between 50 and 100 miles - without making any major stops. They wear only huarache sandals, which apparently are quite well-suited for running. I wouldn't trade my sneakers for those sandals for running but I could see how they'd be handy at the beach. The Tarahumara people run the distances solely on the strength of the mind and most of the excursions are supported by liters of corn beer and occasional stops to gasp a smoke or two.

One would think that they are running for some act of initation or a traditional method of proving one's worth. Or a way of getting closer to God, perhaps, a way of communicating with the elder spirits. But no. They simply run long distances because their villages are so far apart from each and they no other means of communicating with each other.

As running is, travelling happens to be moving forward as well. Most people seem to think that travelling always needs a destination, a purpose. People have been asking me why I'm embarking on a journey around the world. I haven't said much because I doubt they'd understand much. I want to run, to travel, just because I enjoy moving forward. There is no deeper purpose, there is no hidden meaning. I just want to do what I can.

.suicide by star.