Freedom in an Institution: Self-Actualization and the Trail

In my last post I mentioned a few ideas about the lifers. Since then the conversation has come up on the trail. The concept of institutionalization - what happens to inmates who spend so much time in prison that they are unable to assimilate once released - seems appropriate in this community. Because I have a mild form of institutionalization, I welcome your comments. In the book I'm reading: Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why, the neuroscience discussed is applicable here. Our brains are not static, and so by spending so much time in a completely different environment, our brains change. It will take time for me to remember how to be normal after the Trail. For instance, I am already forgetting to flush toilets. In a room, I'll reach for my headlamp before I reach for the lightswitch. Table manners are no longer motor reflex. For some, the freedom of the trail (and this is a flexible definition) is too tempting to leave.

What I'm playing with here, is whether it's possible to be free within an institution. Do the people who hike the Appalachian Trail and then decide they want to walk, for the rest of their lives, feel free? Is the concept of self-actualization possible within a narrow community like this? (from Goldstein via Wikipedia, the "motive to realize all of one's potentialities.") No matter how awake I am on the trail, no matter how expansive my views, this life is truly insulating. With therapeutic potential. But insulating nonetheless. So, are the lifers soothed within an institution that is safe for them? I would like to offer the conclusion that they feel freedom, out there in the wilderness when they please, living on the fringe of American society. Yet the alcoholism among this population is troubling. This is what I'm wondering about.

Comments welcome. More posts about happy things, soon.