4 Lessons from J.C Geiger’s Wildman

From Goodreads

“How could a total stranger know you better than the people you’ve known your entire life?”

Almost nearing adulthood, a book about exploring ourselves and the world around us has been perfect.

It’s renewing to follow a narrative about a boy following conventional ways of living without really defying and getting real crazy for once in his life. We can get too caught up with various strict life chores, and we gradually give less regard to simple things in life that could mean better than figures: what more life has to offer and how smart and complex people can be.

J.C. Geiger’s Wildman reminded me about (1) how we should know people, (2) money isn’t always the answer to a good life, (3) being in the moment, and (4) the truth that life is all about the journey.

How we should know people

Often we care a lot about conventional expectations. We can be too caught up that we take for granted the worlds that we can bump into. We undervalue what we can feel from others being mere by-passers in this ever-fleeting world.

The best way to know a person is by asking, “What’s your story?” That’s it. Less bullshit. More sincere, real, and quickly felt by the people who also long for sincerity. You don’t really realize it, but there are stories people can tell behind their eyes. We cannot frantically judge someone because when we get to have the opportunity, we’d be surprised what their souls have to offer when they let us in.

Money isn’t always the answer to a fulfilled life.

One example from the book was Lawrence Unger, which made the iconic Train song. The hour that the train noise amplifies is the time Lawrence committed suicide. Lance explained the Stanford Marshmallow Experiment, which tells the “Delayed Gratification” principle as a determinant of success. Yet, Dakota contradicts this by telling Lance that Lawrence had many marshmallows, and it doesn’t matter still. Even though he was rich, he still took his own life.

Thus, money isn’t a success, and it shouldn’t be our driving value. We must strive for things that fulfill us, and money should just be a side-effect of what we’re happy to be doing. In this case, it would be sharing moments with others, but it could take many forms.

Being in the moment when it is the moment.

Lance was put there because he believes he’d be gone after a day, but it became more than that. Many moments in our life can occur where a single spark of conversation could make an otherworldly change. We might not notice how many of them pass our lives every day. Though it is might seem reckless, and our own minds might bring up reasons and shy out. It would probably be the wrong time to recognize our limits. Life is short, and sometimes we should just do things. It’d debilitate our potentials and hinders our vigor to risk a little more for what greatness would cost.

We could open up to people who share a sense of reality, a little broken inside, tired of every faux je ne sais quoi the world has to offer and wants something real. When Lance was with Dakota at the particular place where Trainsong was passing, he held her hand, which lead to something unforgettable.

Life is a Journey

You hear this often, but this is the most overlooked. So, I’m going to repeat it, and hopefully, it sticks: Life is really a journey, literally, and things not often sought for are essential for us to see the world around us deeper.

You might not know it, but the quote that sums the book says, “How could a total stranger know you better than the people you’ve known your entire life?” Life is not a problem that is solvable by a general formula. It is diverse, and its complexities are impalpable by logic alone.

We should remind ourselves of our hearts and how we should more often listen to them. Chances are, their passionate beats might be put to sleep, and it would be too late when we realize that it took us far from what life we want to have.

Nothing could ever go wrong with genuine intentions, and if you live with a mind and a heart of truthfulness within you, life will bring you a more authentic sense of living it as well. The usual doesn’t mean it is the right and perfect way to live a day. There is more than what meets the eye, and it is by going beyond what’s presented to us can we truly see the hidden meaning of life: from others and from ourselves. Life will never be a set of problems fixed by a general formula. It is something that we solve every day that requires us to adapt to its ever-changing issues. It is okay to go beyond the ordinary. Get lost once in a while, better to defy expectations. More importantly, for once in our lives, we should be a Wildman.

Devices: Trainsong, Train jumps, Boots, 2:26 AM, Stanford Marshmallow Experiment, moonflowers

Key Notes:

Dakota — first opened the idea of knowing someone through what their hearts call for, and opened Lance to heaven.

Stone and Lance — the best connection, knowing that it is possible for someone to know you better than anyone in your life, that tingly feeling that someone gets you. It is because you can meet someone that can hear your story with absolute genuineness and resonates with them too. Human experience is universal and that is one of the greatest things that has the power to hold people together.