OmPi's Adventures

On the Appalachian Trail and in the hiking community there is a tradition to take a different name while on your adventure. The WSJ just published an article discussing this Trail Name Tradition that I highly recommend. As well on Appalachian Trials there is a post on the Psychology of Trail Names. Between these two articles you can get a better understanding of the tradition and reason for trail names. Below is my name and how it came to be.

OmPi or in symbolic form ॐ π is the name that I have taken for my 2016 AT thru-hike. I can't fully express the deeper meaning it holds to me but I can say a few things about it.

In June of 2011 I adopted the π symbol as an expression of a developing life phrase (Positive Impact) being formed deep within me. It is something that I have always desired, namely to be a positive impact in this world and on the people around me. It came to surface at a time when my world was crashing down and gave me strength, hope, and pushed me through some difficult times in my life. As I continued to meditate on this symbol I found it to be somewhat of a Scientific and Western conundrum. It is a mathematical constant, something solid that does not change, but something that is statistically random and is of infinite length. I see it as somewhat of an expression of the divine in our natural world. It has also become a representation of my logical mind and western thought, my type A personality.

In the years following, I continued my daily life and was introduced to the Eastern concept of Om, symbolically ॐ. It is believed by some that as creation began, the divine, all-encompassing consciousness took this form as the first and original primordial sound. It is a reflection of absolute reality, without beginning or end and encompassing all that is. As I continue to meditate on this mantra I hope to find greater connectivity with the divine, nature, and those around me. This has become for me an expression of my desire to leave strict logic and be mindful of life and life's experiences as well as it is a reflection of a growing eastern thought, a little more of a developing type B personality.

I am by no means a expert mathematician or all knowledgable guru but these two symbols came together in my life and help connect me with something greater, with others around me and inspire me to look beyond the humdrum of daily life to become a better person. These two symbols are somewhat of a representation of what I hope to find/experience on the trail.