The Bushcraft Paradox...
Wilderness bushcraft, as a modern Western concept, began as a set of rudimentary survival skills that were gradually added to from a global repository of indigenous and folk knowledge. Explorers, soldiers and adventure travellers quickly saw the wisdom of learning these specialist skills; they provided piece of mind should their equipment fail and the skills gave them the freedom to travel deeper into wild places without being so techno-dependant. Later, as the new concept of wilderness bushcraft began to form and demand for the skills increased it morphed into an established movement of like-minded individuals, with a thirst for the enabling knowledge and skills of living in the bush. Bushcraft is now coming full circle; where once we looked to exotic indigenous cultures and European folk knowledge for clues as to how to live in our own British natural environment, and to help us re-kindle lost knowledge, now bushcraft has in many respects come home. It can often be found in a form that has dropped the wilderness from its title and focuses on re-invented, local 'nature-knowledge'. Bushcraft has assimilated skills from a vast array of sources geographically and culturally and, whilst many of the skills are relevant to enhancing your time in wilderness, many are equally important to enriching your time in nature, at home.
How do we explain our endless fascination with native peoples and their intimate understanding of the land? Their apparent happiness and being at ease with themselves, especially when they have so little? Perhaps it is because we have confused our value structure and lost sense of meaning - having been pre-conditioned to try to generate our happiness through possessions, purchasing new ‘feel-good’ toys and trinkets.Granted, good quality equipment is vital for wilderness travel, but the objects themselves shouldn’t be relied on to instil satisfaction and meaning to your life, they should be just used to facilitate the experience. Personally I don't care much for any product beyond the point of simple practicality, and refuse to fixate on it - there is no point in marvelling at the keen edge of your knife - you are defined by how you use it.
The word ‘happy’ originates from the verb ‘to happen’… to live in the now and to be content with what is…that is the magic of bushcraft, it’s about the experience. As my friend Tim Smith says “it’s about a connection to the land on a deep, non-superficial level as well as a connection to the past. It’s about the real human experience, and a way of living that’s self-reliant. “' - Ben McNutt 2010
So why Woodsmoke's bushcraft courses?