The leftover embers from my fire were glowing softly, giving the desert around a calming hue.  The dancing shadows played with my eyes, giving the impression that ghosts from long ago were here to entertain me.  Above, the canvas of the universe was in full display: horizon to horizon, the sky was covered in stars.  Falling stars were leaving long tails of light behind them and the Milky Way was so close, I could virtually touch it.

Deep Kalahari… a term only people who have been there will understand.  There is the Kalahari, and then there is deep Kalahari, an area larger than Netherlands, covering the center of Botswana, with no lights, fences or towns.  Here, the sight of man is a great event.  Called the CKGR (Central Kalahari Game Reserve), the deep Kalahari is one of the most striking areas in Southern Africa.

Being alone in the deep Kalahari is a challenge to one’s sanity and resolve.  The silence, the remoteness and the nights are the most interesting.  But I discovered long ago how incredibly healthy this time alone is for my life: it brings an internal balance that it is impossible to achieve in our modern world today.  It focuses your priorities; it resets your brain and it gives you the ability to identify and remove the white noise.

What is the “white noise?”

The term white noise comes from the fact that it is analogous to white light, which is a combination of all frequencies or wavelengths in the visible light spectrum.  It is commonly used to describe the constant commotion, sounds and sights that bombard us every day.  We get so used to the white noise of our everyday lives that we don’t know how to live without it.

I know people who couldn’t sleep at night in the desert because they didn’t hear the police sirens and street noise from their neighborhood and birds chirping and crickets were a huge distraction for them.

But there is a different white noise out there, one that is more subtle, harder to identify and 100 times more dangerous.  It is the white noise of manipulation, subtle whispers that fill our ears and our minds every day, turning all of us into a mass of submissive followers, who stopped thinking for ourselves.  The greatest victory of the 21^st century is not any scientific discovery or medical advancement; it is the silencing of the voice of reason and logic.

There is a proverb that says: ‘Constantly lowering your head will eventually lead you to graze like sheep’

The only way I found to identify and eliminate this white noise is by spending time alone in the wilderness.  The greatest thinkers in our history spent time alone in the wilderness.  Nature and loneliness are the greatest teachers.  Try it sometime, you will be amazed what you discover about yourself.  You don’t have to go to the deep Kalahari, find a quiet spot to camp a few nights, by a lake or a river, completely alone.

You will never regret it!