What A Mountain Can Teach You

I recently got home from visiting my sister is Nanaimo, BC. It was a short yet beautiful visit, full of laughs, some cries, and a shit ton of hikes and trail walks. One day we decided to hike up Mount Benson, which is about 1050 m high, a decent excursion for a novice hiker. I was looking forward to the work out, of course. What I didn't realize is that I would be getting so much more.

When you're hiking up a mountain it's just you and the earth, you against you, one with the mountain. Yes, there may be cell service, which is great for safety, but you don't check your phone. You realize how gorgeously small you are, in the grand scheme of things, and how much of what takes up our daily thoughts are total nonsense. Truly. It was climbing up that mountain I felt my fears, my hopes, and my dreams. The further up I went I could feel my fears melting away. The daily distractions and worry about bills being paid and commitments being met didn't make sense up there, it wasn't needed. The further I went up, the more I became removed from all that bound me mentally, all that fucking garbage that keeps me up at night. I didn't give a fuck about anything except me, my sister, and that mountain.

A mountain is a calming force, teaching you how to be present like nothing else. Some parts of the climb were a cool 90 degrees and if you didn't want to topple down to your death, you had to pay attention. PRESENCE. One hand here, one foot there, don't slip, strong foothold, tighten the core, look where you're going, not where you've been. It forced me to only think in the now, in the certainty of that exact moment. You KNOW nature is good for the soul, but until you are actually out in it, one with the earth like that, you don't really KNOW. Now I know.

We work hard and we strive to achieve and accomplish, to attain and obtain, to be something, earn something. The construct of society is to earn and consume, and repeat that cycle. I'm not saying it's bad, I'm saying I see it. I am a part of it, yet up on that mountain I was completely removed from it. I learned about the beauty of pure presence, aware of only what is happening in front of me. That itself would have been enough, but it was not all.

I learned I hadn't given my sister enough credit for her beautiful life. It can be so easy to pick apart someone's behaviour, trying to "help" them. You want to ease the suffering they are in, you forget to notice the beauty of that individual. The things that make them unique and gorgeous to the world slip away. I forgot that, her beauty. And up on that mountain, I found it again. I think I found a little of my own as well. We're so deeply conditioned...conditioned to think, feel and act a certain way. Conditioned to judge others who do not think, feel, and act the way that we do. But really, it all comes down to one thing, one word, one emotion, one driving force stronger than any other force....LOVE.

Love gives us hope, strength, desire and ability that no other emotion can. People literally give their lives in the name of love. It has the power to do that, to make the ultimate sacrifices...in its name. Love holds space abundantly, infinitely, indefinitely. It's what we are , where we came from, and where we will go when this life is through.

Title, status, money, THINGS.. to me, I see how irrelevant they are in the grand scheme of life. We like them, of course! I love stuff! I own about 10 pairs of Lulu Lemon tights, I like high end things as much as the next guy...BUT...I can do without them. There are so many things we can do without, not to say that we MUST do without, no. Just that bringing awareness into it, knowing that we don't NEED these things to be peaceful, present and happy I truly believe is the secret sauce...at least for me. And practising presence in such a raw form is exhilarating on its own. Can you recall the last time you were truly present? Like not thinking ....about anything, just BEING with whatever or whoever was right in front of you? It's intoxicating. Truly. I highly recommend it.