Courage

At the ripe young age of 9, I set out on an adventure that I still experience every fall; deer hunting. Ever since I can remember, I have loved the outdoors, and especially deer. Somewhere inside of my DNA, some incognito sequence of adenosine and thymine, or maybe guanine and cytosine, controls a hormone release that sends me into the woods when it is 20 degrees outside in a bone chilling wind. To any normal person, getting up early on a Saturday just to endure these less than inviting conditions is ridiculous, a clear sign of insanity. Not to a Pierson. My father has been hunting since his teens, spending every free moment sitting in a tree, looking for a deer. To my mother’s dismay, she did not get the romantic vacations most newlyweds experience before children and careers make their appearances. Instead of spending vacations traveling to exotic locations and eating candlelight dinners, my dad would opt to spend vacation time deer hunting. He would spend every morning and night in the woods, usually 6 or 7 hours a day. As you can imagine, this is not the future most brides envision on their wedding day, but I guess he picked the right lady- she is still hanging around twenty-seven years later. This love, respect, and adoration of hunting flowed right through that X chromosome and landed smack dab in the middle of me. Our family albums are filled with pictures of a chubby, buck-toothed, blond-headed lad in camouflage, sitting on the tailgate of an old Ford truck with a mustached man and a deer. I would not trade those memories for anything, for it is those experiences that have made me into the person I am today.

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In 1990, scientists embarked on one of the most intense and impressive scientific inquiries ever. The Human Genome Project set out to explore you and me. What is it that makes us tick? An attempt to discover the approximately 25,000 genes in the human DNA sequence was no doubt a massive undertaking; one that many people doubted. Deciphering the nearly 3 billion base pairs in DNA seemed even more improbable. As these scientists set out on a voyage into the unknown, they had no clear path ahead of them but instead had to forage around in the darkness, looking for the sights and sounds that would point them in the right direction. Just as a hunter studies tracks and trails searching for clues, these scientists sought the clues that would help them capture their prey; the mysteries of the human genome.

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In Robert Frost’s poem Into my Own, he says, “I should not be withheld but that some day/ into their vastness I should steal away/ Fearless of ever finding open land/ or highway where the slow wheel pours the sand/ I do not see why I should e’er turn back/ Or those should not set forth upon my track/ To overtake me, who should miss me here/ And long to know if still I held them dear/ They would not find me changed from him they knew--/ Only more sure of all I thought was true”. Frost delves into the wilderness in this poem. He finds no reason to turn back from this adventure, and no reason why others should not follow him into the unknown landscape ahead. In this place, Frost is able to see himself more clearly than ever before, and his beliefs suddenly become more tangible, as if he could pluck them from the air like a feather on the wind. By exploring the mysteries hidden in the labyrinth of the dark woods, Frost learns not only more about the woods, but the woods help Frost to learn more about himself.

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As I trudge into the trees every fall, I listen to and watch my surroundings with earnest. I never fail to learn something about myself with every step I take. The power of silence and solitude here is stronger than anywhere I know. The clarity of thought I find in this place allows a glimpse into my heart and soul that is not experienced every day. As I look at my reflection in a mountain brook, the image I see is clearer than any I would find in a mirror. In that image I see more than a face; I see myself, faults and impurities exposed, staring back at me. This image encourages me to examine my life so that I can be content with the stranger staring back at me in the water.

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“They would not find me changed from they knew--/ Only more sure of all I thought was true”. It seems that Mr. Frost and I are on the same page. The search for the soul in nature is a journey that leads us to new places and possibilities that we never imagined possible. By allowing submersion into this unknown wilderness, we allow nature to speak to us. Not in a booming voice that shouts to us in the night, but with a whisper from the wind, a shrill cry from a cicada, the hollow hoot of a wise owl.

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In the year 2003, they did it. All of the genes in the human genome were uncovered, the grime cleaned off, the marble polished until it shone. Where will this monumental discovery lead is in the future? The uncovering of this information has allowed us to learn about a pretty interesting creation, ourselves. As of yet, we are not sure where this discovery will lead, but we can be certain that it will lead us to a better understanding of “us.” The ability to look into ourselves and see exactly what it is that makes us the way we are is now a reality that we have the opportunity to explore. 25,000 genes, 3 billion base pairs: one intense exploration of ourselves. “I should not be withheld but that some day/ Into their vastness I should steal away/ Fearless of ever finding open land/ or highway where the slow wheel pours the sand”.

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“They would not find me changed from him the knew--/ Only more sure of all I thought was true”. The message echoes in the woods. It also echoes in the Human Genome Project. This voyage into the hard drive of the human body allows for a better understanding of ourselves. My time in the woods serves in the same manner to facilitate introspection that can be obtained through no other medium. The sense of being alive that I experience in the woods cannot, for me, be felt anywhere else. The deeper truths that these journeys allow me to confront not only teach about the world, but also help me to strengthen and solidify faith in myself. In the same way that a bird has to leave its nest to learn to fly, I leave my “nest” and jump into the woods. This flight is what teaches me about, well, me. It is here that I develop my ability to fly in a world full of people who are content to sit in their nest, never risking a trip into the unknown. The Human Genome Project took this risk as well, and it now soars with the eagles. No one is certain where this flight will lead, but we can be certain that if not for the efforts of the Human Genome Project, we would still be sitting in the nest.