Arne Naess
Wikipedia lived in a solitary cabin directly under the Hallingskarvet mountain range at Tvergastein.
He vowed to take an alternative route each time he walked to his cabin—and did this for many years. This was also something all visitors had to do.
Arne was determined that no one single path should lead up to his cabin.
He also decided that there should be a nature reserve seven feet around the entire circumference of the cabin. He did this to safeguard the heather, glacier buttercups, and alpine dryad that grew there.
Visitors, including himself, were only allowed to step on the rocks that lay within the protected zone.
And every season Arne observed the living, undisturbed vegetation from his window.
Tvergastein may have been the only cabin in Norway without a man-made path.
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Now, 11 years after his death, there is a single man-made trail that leads up to the cabin.
Without Arne Naess and his insistence on changing the route every day, hikers have unavoidably chosen the most convenient and unaltered route.
When I read about Arne Naess in the beautiful book—Walking One Step At A Time Amazon—I found myself wondering about the same old steps I take.
Convenient. Traditional. Boring.
Not physical—but thinking steps.
Time to take a leaf out of Arne’s book and leave the path.
Be Brilliant!
Michael
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