| June 3, 2005 Editor’s Desk by Aaron Selbig It’s been a lighthearted week here at Insurgent Headquarters. To me, summertime in Alaska is heaven on Earth. Not that winter here is without merit, or that other places lack the raw, natural beauty necessary to inspire the human soul; but there’s something unmistakably different about our mountains, our valleys and rivers, our uninterrupted infusion of sunlight and energy that makes this place, at this time of year, the only place that I want to be. Sometimes, we forget that. Sometimes, it’s easy for us to get so caught up in fighting political and social battles that we forget how important it is to take time to enjoy what it is we’re fighting for. For the last few weeks, I have been so entrenched in the world of Insurgent49, so involved in the Newsweek retractions, special legislative sessions, and death tolls from Iraq, that I’d temporarily forgotten the simple, beautiful things that make my life a blessing. This last weekend, I went clam-digging with my family down on the Kenai Peninsula. You should have seen the expression on my young son’s face, the pure, unbridled joy, when we successfully collected our first razor clam. It was beautiful. We ambled around the beach for hours, our eyes intently focused on the wet sand at our feet, looking for “dimples”. When you find a dimple, you’ve found a clam. My lady was the “spotter”, I was the “shovel man”, and my son was the “digger”. I’d try very hard to un-earth the clam with a shovel while he threw himself, with all the gusto he could muster, into digging it out without breaking the shell. The clams were no match for the three of us. We collected a bucketful and, at the end of the afternoon, there we stood – filthy and victorious. Admittedly, there are times when I feel guilty for indulging in the simple pleasures of life in Alaska. “Why do I deserve to enjoy a weekend of clam-digging with my family when so many of my brothers in Iraq have lost theirs? ”, I ask myself. How can I justify spending money on a vacation when there are folks digging through the Dumpster for food right outside my window? Why do I get to live in this wondrous, inspirational place while thousands more live in polluted hellholes like Bhopal? Why do I feel selfish for leaving the rest of the world behind to go play in the mountains? I shouldn’t. And you shouldn’t, either. While these are indeed dark and troubled times we are living in, and the world is desperate for compassionate and diligent folks to forcefully decry the hypocrisy and greed that seem to be dominating the globe, we will do no good if we are ourselves hollow and depleted. It is necessary and vital that we recharge. So go ... go kayaking, go hiking, go play. Have fun. Get drunk and crazy. Play softball, play soccer, just PLAY. When you come back, we’ll be here. Insurgent49 will be here. And we can pick up right where we left off – tanned, rested, and ready. Regards, Aaron Selbig Editor, Insurgent Media AK |
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Insurgent Media.
All rights reserved. in-sur-gent (in sur'jent), n. 1. a member of a group which revolts against the policies of its leadership. |
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