John Driver - The Ultimate Guide for the Avid Indoorsman: Life Is Better in Here

Obviously, it would be impossible for me to mention everyone in my life who has encouraged, supported, or endured me on my writing journey. Nevertheless, its my great honor to at least mention a few. Just know that there are many more, and I am thankful for you all.

Im forever grateful to Robert Wolgemuth, my incomparable literary agent. Half a decade ago you took a chance on me as a writer, but you have always graciously encouraged me in so much more than just this craft. Austin Wilson, my other incredible agent, you have truly stayed in the trenches with me through every crazy project, pitch, and ideaand beyond that, you have become a dear friend for whom I am so grateful.

Kyle Hatfield, Kim Moore, Heather Green, and the rest of the incredible team at Harvest House, you literally made this book happen. Thank you for your hilarious concept, your clever ideas, and your unyielding kindness from start to finish. You guys truly are the best.

From my dear friend Reggie Dabbs, who first asked me to write a book with you, to Tim Hawkins, Todd Wagner, Dave and Ann Wilson, and all the others who have inconceivably done the same, I am eternally grateful to each of you for the humbling honor of stewarding your voices and stories. A thousand libraries could not contain what I have learned from you.

To all my friends, past and present, from the Church at Pleasant Grovethank you for always supporting me, encouraging me, and being willing to live authentic life with me. And to the entire staff who diligently and faithfully works alongside me each and every day, I am so grateful to fail, succeed, grow, and lead with such amazing champions and friends.

John Carey, who never ceases to encourage me in every endeavor of my life, I am always grateful for you. And Andrew Whartonwhere do I begin? You are a constant friend, compatriot, and guiding force in my story. I literally would not be writing without your courage, honesty, and friendship.

Jonnie Wethington (Jonnie W., to the layperson), you have been like a brother to me for more than 20 years. Most of what I think of as funny came from hanging out with youso if this book tanks, we both know whom to blame. Love you, bro.

My family, the CanadasI am overwhelmed by your love and support. I hope you genuinely chuckle at my lighthearted satire directed toward the outdoorsmanand I really do hope I will still get a Christmas present this year. My family, the DriversI am forever enriched by each of you in unforgettable ways. If Dads family motto still rings true, I am forever grateful to be working on the impossible, which takes a little longer than the mere difficult, with all of you.

My dearest Sadie, who makes me laugh out loud every day, you truly are my favorite, and I couldnt be more grateful to be the daddy of such a creative, thoughtful, generous, brilliant, and beautiful daughter.

And finally, Laura, the one who is constantly at my sidethere are no words to express the depths of my love and gratitude for the life we blissfully enjoy together every day, even when circumstances are not so blissful. But as you already know, I will spend the rest of our lives searching for more words anywayand in the most verbose way possible. I guess you can say that my love for you knows no word count.

John Driver may be strange, but he is no stranger to the indoors. Originally born inside a hospital, he still sleeps in a bedroom and usually takes showers in a bathroom.

A mediocre wordsmith with a dull sense of wit coupled with keenly senseless verbosity, he has been on a lifelong mission to equip the Indoorsmen and Indoorswomen of the world as well as those who dream of joining their ranks with every seemingly useless tool and fact imaginable. For years, millions of Indoorsmen have languished in the shadows of shame and obscurity. But now, through the work John is selfishly pursuing to the detriment of maintaining a steady income, they can languish in the light instead.

John lives with his wife, Laura, and their daughter, Sadie, near Nashville, Tennessee, where, surprisingly, he works at actual indoor jobs as a writer, podcaster, and minister.

More information is available at: www.johndriver.com.

The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation [indoors].

HENRY DAVID THOREAU

W hat is the indoors? How does it differ from the outdoors? How can one anticipate all that life within the unpredictable indoors may throw at them? How do they learn to throw things back?

IN-DOORS: [in-dawrs, -dohrs] adv. also IN-DOOR: singular. adj. 1. In or into a house or building. Occurring, used, etc., in a house or building, rather than out of doors. Aphetic variant of within-door, orig. phrase within ( the ) door, i.e., inside the house.

What does it take to achieve at least a pedestrian mastery of Indoorsmanship, much less the rare status of Avid Indoorsman?

The journey to a complete understanding of Indoorsmanship is not for the faint of heartalthough those with heart conditions are by no means disqualified from achieving the highest levels of expertise. Regardless of age, gender, intelligence, fitness level, or experience, we must begin by addressing that which appears to be obvious and thus is often overlooked or dismissed. Just as any sound structure is erected upon a solid, well-engineered foundation, those Avid Indoorsmen who may indeed inhabit said structures must also be willing to engage the educational and intellectual processes of laying the right mental, physical, and emotional foundations for this way of life and living. So, then, one must attune his or her ear to the sounds of Indoorsmanship training.

After all, unlike a forest, if a tree falls indoors, everyone hears it.

The first recorded appearance of a variation of the term indoors was the word in-door, which surfaced as early as 1711. By 1750 the concept had undergone a somewhat sophisticated vernacular evolution into the phrase within doors, but this version did not possess the convenience that brevity affords the popular lexicon. By 1759 the more modern form of the wordindoorswas being used with regularity, and by 1801 it had spawned its adjective cousin: indoor (i.e., an indoor space).

The simplest practical definition of the indoors is the area or space inside a building.

This may sound simple enough, but there are many nuances to defining the indoors in relation to the various climates and terrains that may be encountered therein. To many Novice Indoorsmen, climate and terrain may sound like foreign concepts to the discipline of Indoorsmanship itself, but such stereotypical and shallow understanding is the very reason so many people suffer the ill effects of inadequate Indoorsmanship. Many of these effects, as well as their antithetical remedies, will be described in meticulous detail throughout the forthcoming content. For now, it suffices to say that Indoorsmanship is an important field of study.

The earliest manuscripts of antiquity reveal an instinctive drive among humankind to seek shelter from the climate and elements. At the core of the study of Indoorsmanship is this most basic human desire. While modern interpretations of the Indoorsman color him or her as weak, lazy, or unable to face the difficulties of the outdoors as a result of some general personal character or physical deficiency, history teaches us otherwise. Humankind has always sought the path of Indoorsmanship, for it is embedded in our DNA.

This is why the earliest men and women spent so much of their time seeking better experiences in whatever indoors they were maintaining. From the floor of a cave, amenities arose in the form of round, smooth stones rather than jagged stones to be used for pillows. Even from these primitive beginnings, the location of ones residence became a priority for the Indoorsman, even if this only meant choosing a cave higher up the cliff face that would deter intruders as well as the spray of the rising tides below.