You Live for This

From Summits of My Life

Someone said, "We are our dreams, that if we don't dream, we are no longer alive." 

. . . 

It's not about being the fastest, the strongest or the biggest...It's about being ourselves.  We are not just runners, mountaineers or skiers...or even athletes...we are people.  We don't know if we'll find it, but we're going in search of happiness.   

What is it we're looking for? To be alive?

Haphazardly perusing the Adrenaline paper from Outdoor Women's Alliance this morning, I stumbled across this video. Keep in mind, I wasn't searching for anything in particular. Sometimes things just have a way of jumping out when you least expect them... and most need them.

It was just another outdoor video... or so I thought. I pushed play. Then suddenly I felt my heart stand still.

I recognized these people. I recognized these places. No, maybe they weren't the exact replicas I had seen in real life but the feeling that exuded from the images flashing in front of my eyes were ones I knew intimately. I was instantly connected.

Then came the words quoted above. They accompanied each scene, touching on both my visual senses and feelings I hold deep. I was drawn in, acknowledging this film's message and realizing whatever frustrations I had from this past week were melting away.

Sometimes we just need a little inspiration from the outside to kick us back into reality. While we may not be speeding across knife-edged ridgelines on a daily basis, it's the idea that others are- and that we can, too- that keeps us outdoor folks going in the everyday 9-5 that we many times have to conform to.
But that's not our reality, and that's what we have to remember. Our reality is filled with the raw elements- forests, granite mountains, wild rivers- that others use to comfortably box themselves in. We prefer untamed. We only go through the motions of city life so we can keep a grip on what matters: Life out there.

Enjoy the film: