PaperWork: When the challenge of you v. nature becomes you v. self

Oh, the things people will do for money. And TV lets us watch them.

I’m talking about brave souls who are dropped in a remote, rugged wilderness to survive long enough to be the last standing and win a huge cash prize.

They struggle to make fire, find food and build shelter. Most everything they do is filmed for a TV audience. Several such shows span many seasons so it’s pretty clear they are popular.

I’m not a big fan, but I see the attraction. Especially to the characters because they are under a microscope. Each contest is a study of human nature.

Locations vary but all include lousy weather, dangerous critters and challenging menus. (You eat anything if you’re starving.) What’s being tested are survival skills. Making a fire is not that easy. Food is never abundant – contestants lose a lot of weight. At any time they can “tap out.”

We see the struggle but also hear their inner thoughts and ramblings, crying and cussing. They vary in age and background but a common denominator will surface. They muscle up against Mother Nature but they all crumble and soften with the loneliness.

The need for human connection overcomes the drive to test limits and skills – and win that cash. Yes, people do crazy things for money, but they walk away for reasons much bigger than money.

What starts out as man v. nature turns into man (or woman) v. self. Most lose the contest, but each wins a deeper understanding – knowing better who they are and what are the important challenges in life. Can’t put a price on that, right?

My wife is a fan. It’s fun watching her yell at the contestants, “Just go catch a fish!” She likes to give them advice. And she can read the signs of defeat.

“Oh, no. He’s out,” she’ll say, as a bearded fellow pulls out a photo of his family and begins to weep. This happens a lot.

She just finished Season 1 of “Alone Australia” with 10 challengers dropped around a remote lake in Tasmania’s West Coast in the winter of 2022.

Gina Chick, the winner, lasted 67 days. She is a rewilding facilitator who leads workshops, retreats and classes in Sydney and has written an autobiography, “We Are the Stars.”

And she’s the reason I’m talking about these reality shows. One episode that lingers with me included Gina in her shelter at night, talking to the camera as they all do. Her words in that moment of reflection felt important:

“Coming into this they’d ask me why ... why are you doing this? What’s your why? Do you want to be the first woman to win? Yeah sure. Is it to do this, to do that? Yeah sure.

“I think the universe bends its attention and holds its breath whenever humans make a stand for something. Whatever it is. I think part of my why, my deeper deeper why is I’m making a stand to remembering a way of being. That my culture has largely forgotten. I feel such kinship with that way of life. A way of living where you can be in harmony with nature. Because I know it’s possible. I know, I know it’s possible. So that’s my why. That’s why I am here. Really.”

I have felt that sense of belonging to something larger, something universal, when I am in the thick of trees or even scanning a green field of corn.

Gina won $250,000, but the real prize was that harmony she sought and found in nature that helped her win. I envy her connection. Makes me think about how I greet each day. Perhaps I should ask myself, “Why are you doing this?”

Yeah ... what’s my why?

• Lonny Cain, retired managing editor of The Times in Ottawa, also was a reporter for The Herald-News in Joliet in the 1970s. His PaperWork email is lonnyjcain@gmail.com. Or mail The Times, 110 W. Jefferson St., Ottawa, IL 61350.