The polar explorer spent 5 months alone. Here are the important truths that were revealed to him

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

When there is only harsh nature and no people around, much appears in a new light.

Richard Byrd was one of the earliest American aviators. The air expeditions he led crossed the Atlantic Ocean, part of the Arctic Ocean and part of the Polar Plateau in Antarctica.

In 1934, he decided to spend several months alone in Antarctica. The rest of the expedition members remained at the Little America research base, while Byrd himself settled in an even colder and more desolate part of the mainland. For several months he was going to conduct meteorological and astronomical observations. But first of all, Byrd just wanted to be alone, away from the hustle and bustle and think about his own life. Here are some of his thoughts that were published in the publication.

We need less than we think

Byrd's hut was adjoined by two tunnels dug in the snow. They kept essential items: candles, matches, flashlights, batteries, pencils and paper, soap, provisions. Apart from books and a phonograph, Byrd had no entertainment at all. He had one set of clothes, one chair and a bar on which he cooked.

Living in such simple conditions, Byrd realized that nothing else was needed. He realized what philosophers have been talking about for a long time. That you can live a full life,.

Half of the world's mess comes from not knowing how little we need.

Richard Byrd

Exercise helps keep you in balance

Despite the extremely cold temperature, Byrd trained almost every day. He believed that daily sports support not only physical health, but also the psyche. The next time you are too lazy to go outside because of the cold, remember this entry from Byrd's diary: "Today it was clear and not too cold - at noon only minus 41."

In the morning, while the water was warming up for tea, Byrd, lying on his bunk, did fifteen stretching exercises. “The silence in the first few minutes after waking up is always melancholy,” he wrote. "Exercise helps me break out of this state."

He also walked for an hour or two every day and did various exercises along the way. Such walks gave him the opportunity to warm up, get some air and change the environment.

Most of our behavior is due to external factors

“In solitude, you notice to what extent our manners and habits depend on the environment,” Byrd wrote. “My table manners are now disgusting. It was as if I had degraded for hundreds of years."

He also noticed that he began to swear less often: “Now I rarely swear, although in the beginning I fell with anger at everything that pissed me off. Now I suffer in silence, knowing that the night is endless and my foul language does not shock anyone but myself. Although it seems to us that we utter curses for our own pleasure, in reality this action is ostentatious.

In addition, all these months Byrd did not cut his hair. Long hair warmed the neck, he said. But every evening he washed, but not to comply with the rules of decency. It was just that he felt more pleasant and comfortable.

How I look, I don't care at all now. The only thing that matters is how I feel.

Richard Byrd

Byrd did not believe that manners and rules of behavior were not needed at all. He did not live as a savage after returning from an expedition. He just always remembered that most of our behavior is "theater, albeit very useful."

The daily routine supports and rests

In order not to fall into melancholy, Byrd tried to always be busy and introduced a clear daily routine. According to him, it was not so easy, because he is "a rather careless person who is influenced by the mood."

First, he fixed something every day. He always allocated one hour for this, and then moved on to another matter. The next day he went back to work. “So every day I see little progress in all important matters,” he explained, “and at the same time I don’t let myself get bored. It brings variety to life. " Secondly, Byrd tried not to think about the past and live in the present. He wanted to "extract from the surroundings every drop of entertainment available to him."

Although he went for walks in different directions every day, the landscape remained practically unchanged. Byrd diversified his forays with his imagination. For example, he imagined that he was walking in his native Boston, repeating the journey of Marco Polo, or living during the ice age.

Happy are those who can live fully at the expense of their intellectual resources, just as hibernating animals survive at the expense of accumulated fat.

Richard Byrd

Don't worry about what's out of your control

Byrd learned the news from the Little America base, and could only respond in Morse code. At first he was very upset by the reports he heard, for example, about the economic crisis. But over time, he learned to perceive them differently. “I don't have the slightest opportunity to change the situation. Therefore, worrying is useless,”he wrote.

This approach, characteristic of, he applied to everything he heard. He tried to focus only on what he could control himself. According to him, world news has become "almost as meaningless to him as it is to a Martian."

Byrd could not influence global events from his corner of Antarctica in any way. But he wouldn't have changed anything if he had been at home in America at that time. So is it worth following the news at all and worrying about them?

Peace and joy are not given without a struggle

“In the absence of material stimuli, my senses sharpened in a new way,” Byrd wrote. “Accidental or ordinary things in heaven, earth and in my soul, which I would have ignored or not noticed at all, have now become fascinating and important.”

However, such moments of spiritual uplift do not come without labor and sacrifice. They did not occur in spite of the difficult conditions in which Byrd lived, but precisely because of them. For example, here are his reflections on the great colors of the northern lights:

I watched the sky for a long time and came to the conclusion that such beauty is not for nothing hidden in remote dangerous places. Nature has a good reason to exact a special tribute from those who want to observe it.

Richard Byrd

Byrd found the state of peace he had dreamed of. But according to him, this peace is not passive. It must be conquered with the utmost effort.

Family is the only thing that matters

Two months later, Byrd broke the tiles he used to heat his hut. Carbon monoxide began to seep out of it. But without heating, Byrd would freeze to death. Therefore, he had to ventilate the room during the day, and leave it on at night. He soon fell seriously ill. He hid this from his colleagues for two months, fearing that they would go to his rescue and die on the way.

On the verge of death, Byrd realized a simple truth: “I used to value something completely different. I didn’t understand that simple, modest things in life are most important. In the end, for any person, only love and understanding of his family are important. Everything else is fragile. Everything we have created are ships at the mercy of the winds and the tides of human prejudice. But the family is a reliable support, a safe harbor, where these ships will dock at the berth of pride and trust."

conclusions

I got something that I never had before: humble needs and the ability to appreciate the beauty of what I live. Civilization has not changed my new views. Now I live easier and more calmly.

Richard Byrd

Most of us will never experience the long and complete loneliness that Byrd was in. But everyone has a few minutes a day to spend alone with themselves.

Disconnect from everything that distracts you, and listen to thoughts for which you usually do not have enough time in the hustle and bustle of life.