THE COUNTRYMAN
The value of humility
Our new columnist Guy Grieve explains why he believes that a respect for nature should underpin every action of the genuine countryman
WORDS GUY GRIEVE W
hen I think of the year stretching ahead – the highs and lows and myriad challenges and pitfalls that
are no doubt waiting for me – one thought, one word, one guiding life philosophy and principle above all others rises to the surface. Humility. Applying the principle of humility to every
challenge is the number one survival lesson I have learnt over the years. I am not talking here about cringe-inducing goody-goody behaviour. I am simply referring to a state of mind and mode of behaviour that has been proven time and again the world over, and not just by this writer, to make the difference between life and death or just plain disaster. Humility was first taught to me, or more
accurately burnt into my psyche, during a year that I spent living in solitude in the great silent and remote wilderness of the Interior of Alaska. Following a burning desire to build a cabin in the wilderness and to live alone in a truly wild place, I found myself on the banks of the Yukon river at entirely the wrong time of the year for cabin building, with the knuckles of winter already tightening white across this vast and empty country. One glance across that immense tea-coloured
river towards the thick boreal wilderness stretching for thousands of miles quickly told me that there was no way that I was going to survive in such a place, never mind build a solo cabin, without input from people who knew a lot more than I did. I was lucky enough to be taken under the wing of native people who taught me to be humble, and to work with instead of against nature, abandoning any notion of pride or machismo. In so doing they may have saved my life. Some years later I skippered a boat across
the far North Atlantic via the Grand Banks of Newfoundland, and those early lessons once more came into play. Battling the aftermath of Hurricane Bertha, myself and my crewmate hove to instead of fighting the storm and after three days emerged unscathed to approach
the Irish coast which had been battered by the largest onshore waves on record. The same lessons have been repeated in jungle and desert and now more so than ever in my home territory, exposed within another great natural classroom as I approach my fifth year dive fishing for king scallops in the often tempestuous waters surrounding the Isle of Mull.
Not for the faint-hearted Searching for king scallops in the remote wilderness of the sea-bed is not for the faint hearted. The work is tough. Wild weather and strong tides, cold and exposure frequently gather to become unwelcome crewmates as we work hard to keep our chefs supplied with these culinary equivalent of diamonds. But no matter how personal it can sometimes feel, as the waves batter our boat, the current pulls me violently along the seabed, or stinging hail hits my face – I remind myself that nature is neutral. It is not out to get me and neither am I setting out to ‘beat’ or ‘triumph over’ it – to try to do so would be arrogant and unwise. At sea, just like any natural wilderness, one
‘Some years ago I skippered a boat across the Atlantic, battling the aftermath of Hurricane Bertha’
is simply, profoundly ignored. Whether my boat comes back to harbour or whether I surface from a dive is of no consequence to the leviathan movement of tides and the immense shifting universe that is the ocean. It is my awareness of this and of my puny insignificance in the face of nature that has kept me (so far) alive. In 2014 my vestigial efforts to earn a living
for another year from the sea will depend pretty much entirely on what direction the wind is blowing from and how hard. Yet each day, when I set out to sea I will always ensure that above all else I shall be armed with a great protecting sense of humbleness. To keep learning, adapting and changing one’s plans and never hesitating to retreat. In 2014 I shall head towards various goals and ambitions and remember that many a person has killed themselves by stubbornly sticking to their plan to go from A to B.
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