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Korpijaakko
– my personal views on all walks of outdoor life
Wanted: Lost motivation
Posted by on 03/10/2011
// Warning: This post contains pointless whining and is written while being frustrated. Reading at own risk. 😉 //
Once again it has been quiet here for some time. This is partly because of the Wilderness Guide school keeping me busy: I just spent a week hiking in Muotkatunturit wilderness area in Lapland with the class. But partially the silence is because of the lack of motivation.
Rock Ptarmigans in Muotkatunturit wilderness area.
It seems that I need something big to keep me motivated and excited. I need to have something big on the drawing board that challenges me: How should it be done? Can I put it all together? Can I pull it through? That’s the part that really makes me tingle. And when I’m motivated and excited I also want to share it with other people (That would be you, dear readers) but when there is nothing special going on or coming up and everything goes as planned, I feel that there is not much to write about.
I need more of this stuff! (Picture from Spitsbergen in April 2011.)
Though, of course there would be things to write about!
I just spent a week hiking in really nice and wild area in Lapland but for some reason it doesn’t feel special enough to inspire me to write a trip report. I’ve done quite a lot of one-week hikes in Lapland. There would be also few posts and trip reports still waiting to be finished but that’s not too exciting either. There is the Wilderness Guide school going on but it feels now as business-as-usual for me and thus isn’t too inspiring. And things like going for a walk near home, enjoying the sun and picking a bucket of cranberries from a surprising place doesn’t feel like worth a blog post either… I could also write gear reviews as there is big punch of gear I’ve been using for a long time and have been very satisfied. And some gear that I haven’t used because of the gear either failing or not working as I would have wished. But I have sort of an issue with gear reviews as I feel that they encourage unnecessary consumption… but maybe I should?
Picking wild berries, mushrooms, etc. is a typical weekend activity for me. Nice way to enjoy the nature nearby.
The lack of motivation might also be because of some resent setbacks related to the inspiring stuff I wished to do. I wrote earlier about some speed hiking plans and if things would have gone the way I planned, I would have just finished a 135km trail in three days. But, I unfortunately my mates had to cancel the trip and I’m not too much into solo trips so this is postponed to next spring. The second big thing I had planned was actually lot bigger. In school we have a voluntary internship period in December but instead of working in some company I was planning to do a big skiing trip: Four weeks of skiing in Lapland without seeing the sun! But unfortunately I didn’t find anyone to accompany me on that trip so it is also postponed to distant future…
If things would have gone as planned, this would have been as much Sun as I would have seen during December. (Picture from lake Inari in January 2011.)
Luckily there is also some inspiring stuff coming up… Within two weeks we will have the school’s 24 hour challenge and if everything goes well, I’ll then cover the longest distance I’ve ever covered under my own power within 24 hours. And because of the big, cold and dark skiing trip being cancelled I decided to do some internship stuff instead and I think I will be learning a lot of new things while at it.
This fellows might teach me a thing or two...
There is also some sort of a ski expedition on the drawing board but I’ll have to see how it goes. If I find the company, have the money and can arrange the time, I will definitely let you know!
Blueberry leaves in Muotkatunturit wilderness area last week.
But, the main idea of this post was not only to whine about the lack of motivation but to help me find the lost motivation. So. I wish you would write a comment on this post and tell:
A) How do you keep yourself motivated? (I know there is bunch of great and talented bloggers occasionally visiting here, so this is especially for you!)
B) What kind of content would you like to see on this blog? Trip reports? Gear reviews? More pointless whining?
Korpijaakko 
***Please read the following in fking sarcastic voice***
“oh boo hoo hoo, poor old Jaakko stuck with only Lapland hiking and Wilderness guide education to call adventure.. And he’s just overfed with free mushrooms and cranberries but still whingin’ , with nothing more than an upcoming ski exped to look forward to.. my heart bleeeeeeeeeds.”
My vote is for more trip reports, first.
gear reviews, second.
comedy whinging, third!
😉
Poor you 🙂 I think you are quite spoilt with good opportunities and the freedom to pursue them. The rest of us with limiting jobs and family obligations always have more plans than opportunities, so the motivation is no problem.
I’m mostly interested in trip reports myself, since the web is already full of gear reviews (though most of them are rather poor).
Jaakko, you don’t always have to re-invent the wheel so that you can write about it. Maybe if you’ve spent “too much” time on one place, say Muotkatunturi(?), it might not inspire you that much to write yet another trip report from there. I get it. But as a person who hasn’t been in that area yet (I will next spring) I tend to find as much information as I can. And I’m sure there’s others too. So keep writing and let us do the reading! 🙂
And if you can’t find any words for some reason, let the pictures do the talking. You’ve just come home from a trip, don’t take pressure with blogging. It’s not supposed to be a chore. Chill and have an awesome autumn! 😀
Old-time school should be boring and real torture, whereas you guys enjoy and have fun on fells of Lapland 😉 By the way, your Lapland photos were cool!
If you want more outdoor action in to your life, why not try Rogaining (rogaining.fi)? Then record your actions there and share them via blogs.
Yeah, I agree with other commenters. Man up to the blogging challenge and stop whining. 🙂
For me, big expeditions are possibly the least interesting things I read about. People rarely write about them in an interesting way. I think it’s much more rewarding to find a well-written report about a shorter trip. The key is to find an interesting angle on it. Things like “We went there and we skied 500km in 24 hours” just don’t really convey much of anything.
I’m sure you can find something interesting to say about your time at Muotkatunturi – something different. Try writing it in a different style if you’re lacking motivation. It’s great to read posts where people put as much passion into the writing as they do into the wilderness.
Keep at it Jaakko. You’ll find your voice.
Thanks guys! Sometimes the thing you really need is a good kick up the arse to get you going. I think I really had a point in this post but it got burried under the pointless whining. I’m still not feeling too inspired (mostly because of some other mundane concerns of the life), but:
You get what you ask for – trip reports it will be then: http://wp.me/p1iDnO-b2
(And Monthly higlights of September later this week.)
Some kind of a mild outdoor burn-out? Or maybe now that your favourite past time activity is turning into a profession (?), your mind is just re-adjusting itself? (When you can’t just do what pleases you, but need to see it all with the eyes of a professional?) But if this blogging thing bores you, take a break from it – although as a regular reader I would not like that option…
Anyway, trip reports are what I like. I also like to read honest comments about gear used, although pure gear reviews are not that interesting. But with moderation they are also nice!
“But I have sort of an issue with gear reviews as I feel that they encourage unnecessary consumption…”
On the other hand, a good review could prevent the reader from making an unnecessary purchase.
Keep on rollin’, Jaakko, and we’ll keep on enjoying 😉
“Or maybe now that your favourite past time activity is turning into a profession (?), your mind is just re-adjusting itself?”
Hopefully it’s not that! I have no idea what else I would do if I’d get bored with outdoor things. I think it’s just about blogging. I feel that the stuff I’m mostly doing at the moment is not worth blogging but I try to come up with some new idead.
Väinö: The new ideas will also likely include gear reviews with a “long term point of view”.
Long term reports would be a great idea! After all, long term performance is what really counts when considering the (economic and environmental) value of a purchase.