Running With Wolves

Running with wolves teaches everything about life.
Just watch the astonishing new Norwegian film.
Folktales.

I’ve written about introversion in plenty of previous posts, and how it impacts both at home and at work.

But something quietly electrified me last night, watching this beautiful documentary.

Taking Tess for a run this morning, I could not stop thinking about it.

The film follows teenagers at Pasvik Folk High School in the remote northern region of Finnmark, Norway, situated deep in the Arctic wilderness near the Russian border. The young adults must rely on each other and a pack of sled dogs as they grow their skills.

Skills for mastering the understanding of both self and others.

Watching the gentle relationships unfold between student and dog is like watching their self-awareness and development writ large.

“Know thyself”, is exactly what they are learning. Socrates, Heraclitus, and Pythagoras would be overjoyed.

The Norwegians are on to something with this educational program, and of course it’s of paramount importance in our digital age.

I only wish some 30 years ago I might have joined them.

“Wake up your stone age brain!” the instructor demands, and she speaks to us all.

To paraphrase the learning, in the beginning the students think it is all about the dogs. But the dogs are just the method.

The higher goal is the human being.

The potential of the human being.