Favorites First

I like to take local day hikes and occasionally go camping, and although I’ve never backpacked overnight or done anything too adventurous, I like to think that I might one day.  

For fun and a bit of vicarious living, I follow a few long-distance hikers online.  I enjoy reading and watching about their travels, and I’ve picked up some useful tips along the way.

One well-known expert hiker is Jessica “Dixie” Mills, who wrote a book about her Appalachian Trail hike.  She has a popular YouTube channel called, “Homemade Wanderlust.”  Her channel combines down-home hiking commentary with exquisite nature filming and drone photography, and her fans love her genuine style.

Mills said something in one of her videos that I’ve kept thinking about, and noticing how it could apply to far more than backpacking.

She said that when she goes hiking, she always eats her favorite foods first.

This is significant because hikers have limited meal choices.  They have to carry their food with them, and they often need to pack several days’ worth at one time, to last between trips to a store.  Since they have to carry it all in their backpacks, they have to consider multiple factors, including nutrition, size, weight, and cost.

Therefore, the foods they carry are different from what they might choose at home.  They’ll take some favorite items, but for practicality, they will also pack some foods that just get the job done to keep them fed and moving down the trail.

The tricky part is, there’s always a chance that hikers will run out of food before they can get to a store (or even a gas station) in the next town.  They plan ahead, but there are always contingencies.

The temptation, then, might be to save a favorite meal for “hard times,” such as a particularly strenuous day, or bad weather.  Theoretically, if you save the goodies and eat the not-so-favorite items first, then you would have something to look forward to.  And if food gets scarce, you can always stretch out those favorite items as long as possible.

Mills, however, said that she prefers to eat whatever is her favorite choice at that moment.  In other words, out of the items that she has available, she chooses the one that currently appeals to her most.  She doesn’t try to analyze what she may (or may not) want later.  She doesn’t worry about what she can’t have; she focuses on what she does have, and simply chooses the best.

For some reason, this seems to go against my natural inclination.

I’ve always liked to hedge my bets.  I’ll keep something “for later,” or “just in case,” especially if it’s something nice.  

I’ve always done this.   I remember as a kid, getting some adorable little green soaps shaped like elves for Christmas.  I didn’t use them for a very long time, because I didn’t want to use them up.  

But what was the point of stashing them away in a drawer?  They were a gift to be enjoyed.   And I act similarly in many areas of my life.

With our work, our art, why shouldn’t we go for the project that seems the tastiest, right now?  

What might happen if our next project was the one we’d been waiting to start?  What if it was the one we really wanted to do, but for some reason, thought we’d save for a more special occasion?

Now is the special occasion.  Today is just as special as any other.  So, creatively, give yourself permission to make the art that you’ve been saving for the right time, and see if the right time might be right now.