“The present is all we have to live in. Or to lose.”
– Marcus Aurelius
My parents are in Jackson for the summer. For the past five summers they have volunteered at the National Elk Refuge, and for the past two years, they have been allowed to live at the Miller House – a historic cabin located directly on the Refuge. It’s a pretty incredible set up as it has amazing views, plenty of space for them, and most importantly, it’s about a five minute bike ride from our house. We are all grateful that they come each summer to spend a few months near us, and I know they feel lucky to have the opportunity to be here.
They joined Aimee and I for the hike around String Lake this morning. The day broke under thickly cloudy skies, and we even had some light rain as we made our way up into the Park. The Tetons remain in a persitant cool and wet weather pattern with really no end in sight at the moment.
The String Lake Trail is an easy 3.7 miles around an incredibly beautiful crystal clear lake with good views of the Tetons and surrounding area. The Lake is a very popular spot for afternoon picnics, swimming, and paddleboarding in the summer. It can get insanely crowded on summer afternoons, and I have experienced many days where I felt like I was trying to park at Avalon during Christmas.
Parking was not a problem this morning as we arrived around 7 AM and got to walking. We decided to walk the trail counterclockwise , and I’m fairly certain I’ve never hiked it in this direction. This particular trail is flat and easy on the east side of the lake with some mild elevation gain and loss on the west side. The big news for this morning was that the mosquitos were out in full force and absolutely relentless. My dad was prepared to play the part of hero with his bug spray, but unfortunately, the dispenser was mostly broken, so it didn’t spray. What little juice we could squeeze out of it didn’t really help, and I plan to purchase this for Hayden when she heads to String Lake with her class this week.
Once we gained some elevation, the mosquitos abated somewhat and we enjoyed some really beautiful views of the lake. It was an easy walk and great to spend some time in the mountains with my parents. And, as a bonus, we all went out to a great breakfast at the Bunnery afterwards.
What I thought about today was a concept that I recently discovered called the “arrival fallacy.” I’m not sure if this is really covered by the Stoics per se, but their ideas of living in the now and being present are certainly closely related. As coined by Tal Ben-Shahar, a Harvard psychologist, “arrival fallacy is this illusion that once we make it, once we attain our goal or reach our destination, we will reach lasting happiness.”
I have unwittingly subscribed to this framework of life for several years probably for a couple of reasons. I have always been a goal-oriented person (duh, see aintnopicnic.com) and my life trajectory, namely medical training, has reinforced this ideology. For several years, my life was constructed of “when I” statements. When I finish first two years of medical school I will finally be in the hospital. When I graduate medical school, I’ll finally be a doctor. When I finish my internship, I’ll finally be doing anesthesia. When I finish residency, I’ll finally be a private practice anesthesiologist. When I become a partner in my practice, I’ll finally earn my full potential. When I am on the board of my practice, I’ll be able to shape the practice and on and on and on…..
People cope with life like this all the time. “When my kids are older, when we have a bigger house, when we move, when we retire…..we’ll be happier.” This framework is especially reinforced by medical training. Unless you’re a masochist, focusing on the future is at times, the only way to get through the endless nights of studying, years of long work for little pay, abuse, feeling inadequate, taking on massive debt, etc. It’s a defense mechanism that works really well.
I recognize however, that this is no way to go through life. Always racing to the future, and thinking that things will be better later, or I’ll be happy when I reach “x” leads to feeling chronically unsatisfied. It is better to focus on the now, enjoy what we have today, and allow ourselves to be truly content with that. It’s totally okay and healthy to have goals, but I am trying to enjoy the experience of reaching the goal rather than attaining the goal itself.
Mileage – 3.8 miles
Time – 1 hour 45 minuts
BGAS – No big game other than mosquitos
PS – several
I am now caught up on all the blog posts thus far! Loved every single one and cannot wait to continue to read about (and join some of) the rest of the hikes this summer! So so cool.
Thanks for a great time and lovely hike(xcept for mosquitos).Love spending time with you two! So enjoying following your adventure. Mom