Notes from the Mountain - Issue No. 8

Mt. Harvard (14,421') as seen from Mt. Oxford (14,158')

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about time. Not in a dramatic way.

Just in the quiet realization that at some point, life stops feeling like it’s constantly building toward the next milestone and starts feeling a little more like you should make the most of the time you have right now.

For most of life, it feels like you’re counting up.

Significant birthdays. Graduations. Careers. Buying a first home. Building something from nothing. Everything ahead.

But somewhere along the way, you start realizing that time is probably the most valuable thing you actually have. And maybe the important part isn’t counting at all.

Maybe it’s just making sure you’re paying attention while you’re here.

This summer, my BFF and I are planning to summit Mt. Harvard together as a way to celebrate a milestone birthday. She’s been with me on several 14er summits over the years, and somehow those climbs always become about more than just reaching the top.

There’s something about being out there for hours; exhausted because we are never in good enough shape that we hoped to be, laughing, encouraging each other through the hard parts; that reminds you what really matters.

Not productivity. Not schedules. Not the endless noise most of us spend too much time around. Just the experience itself.

The mountains have a way of stripping things down to what’s important. Fresh air. Good friends & people met along the way. A little perspective.

That feeling is what inspired this week's highlight bar.