There is no better high than discovery.
- E.O. Wilson
“We must get beyond the textbooks, go out into the bypaths and untrodden depths of the wilderness and travel and explore and tell the world the glories of our journey.” - John Hope Franklin
At one point in our not-too-distant history, there were entire regions of the planet that many had never seen—European society wasn’t even aware of their existence. It became the life ambitions of several people to explore these places…to tromp through their forests, dive their lagoons, summit their peaks, meet their people. There was an excitement and sense of exploration that has since dissipated in our society.
I want to reclaim that sense adventure, to take back that sense romance and set out for far-flung lands and distant horizons. I want to help inspire present and future naturalists and lovers of life who spend their waking hours and dreams thinking about moss and mollusks and great rivers. And in the end I want to revel in the experiences and retell them in the company of good friends and good drink, and wonder together at the world in which we live.
Pursuing that essence and seeking to make it a part of life is what I call chasing Linnaeus.
“Take me, Lord, to an unexplored planet teeming with life forms. Put me at the edge of a virgin swampland dotted with hummocks of high ground, let me saunter at my own pace across it and up the nearest mountain ridge, in due course to cross over the far slope in search of more distant swamps, grasslands, and ranges. Let me be the Carolus Linnaeus of this world, bearing no more than specimen boxes, botanical canister, hand lens, notebooks, but allowed not years but centuries of time. And should I somehow tire of the land, let me embark on the sea in search of new islands and archipelagoes. Let me go alone, at least for a while, and I will report to You and loved ones at intervals and I will publish reports on my discoveries for colleagues. For if it was You who gave me this spirit, then devise the appropriate reward for its virtuous use.”
- E.O. Wilson, The Naturalist
“So I spend every day since then chasing Amy. So to speak.”
- Silent Bob, Chasing Amy
