I was recently able to catch up on a most engaging and intriguing article by Tom Stienstra called, "Hiking Now, Under A Rock Two Years Ago". (Linked below and whose middle image above I have borrowed, by Kenny Karst, is included there) It is a story of severe adversity and the amazing journey towards recovery of Theresa Ho... A story of trial and challenges, the unforgivingness of stone and accident... But mostly - most significantly, about the power and potency of the human spirit...
In his report, Stienstra writes of the horrendous accident where Theresa was crushed by a moving boulder while scrambling in Yosemite. Her injuries were life threatening and only the immediate response of her husband Tom Lambert, and the heroic efforts of the Yosemite Search & Rescue Team, spared her. Please read Stienstra's article as it truly captures the gripping details of this story.
What also profoundly resonated with me, in what this article and Theresa's story shares with us, can be discovered in the words found there... "She said it's given her time to take stock of what is important, and what is not", and that Theresa "Found herself at a crossroads"...
Words you might hope a courageous survivor would say as they navigate their way through such a journey; words that indicate a different kind of energy, a new growth of vigour within, a potency of vital energy that speaks of something more than physical recovery...
Such words reflect what I have always believed in, and have been drawn to, within accounts of overwhelming and trying experiences, and over the many years of adventuring and connecting with adventurers out there. There is a spirit to be found behind these words... We can see it in their eyes, hear it in their voice, as they tell us their story. There is a depth of being there, a new way of knowing, that we all wonder of and can hopefully learn from as it is shared with us.
On Outward Bound years ago I was first to sense the truth of the saying that 'There is more within us than we may think'... Stories like Theresa's reflect the meaning and spirit of these words too. They illuminate the potential to be discovered when our horizons seem to be obscured by dark mist and imposing gloom.
Imagine for a moment... the stress, the fears, the doubts, when something happpens which can just as easily crush us as any boulder might...
Imagine... the worry, the unknowns, the long tests and trials themselves, and that which visits us in those darkest moments that someone surely faces after such events...
Which is stronger, I have often asked myself... The stone of circumstance that was the cause of such distress, or the spirit that then is asked to respond to this...
Stone is a substance that may wait out a millenia, yet the human spirit to me is so much more enduring...
Stone and rock may last the ages, but the spirit behind such a journey of recovery is everlasting...
There are moments when among the pressures within our lives, during the epics of our adventure experiences too, and especially in the midst of such trials as that which Theresa, and also her husband Tom have faced, where our spirit is so very tested...
Theresa & Tom have graduated yet again.....
We adventure among stone as one of the elements and in doing so we are certainly, humanly vulnerable... Yet the spirit within us is as elemental as any boulder, as any mountain, as any ocean, and those fires that burn within each of us are so powerfully elemental too...
It is the essence of spirit such as Theresa's, and that supporting synergy of spirit of her husband who stood beside her - that we are all drawn to; that I try and grasp for in these musings here; and that something of this inspiring spirit is what I hope to blend in with the painting and the sharing of my small cobblestones.
We cannot help but be touched by Theresa's spirit, and also further inspired by the passion she continues to have to now in returning to the wild places, on another beautiful waypoint within her journey to recovery.....
DSD
Tom Stienstra's Article: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/07/26/SPTV18TMK9.DTL
4 comments:
I cannot claim to say that I have had that eureka moment when life suddenly all makes sense to me and my future opens up before me. Perhaps I am too young for that yet. But, I can say that it seems to me that we all have some gut instinct (conscience, perhaps?) that lets us know what we really should focus on in our lives.
Amazing story and wonderful post. I have been blessed to live through a "moment" of eureka, of learning and total knowing. I wasn't rock climbing or mountaineering, but was standing mid-stream in a river that had cut through walls of rock over eons of time.
What opens our door to our inner conscious (and strength) is different for all of us. What is important is the choice we make when the door opens: Walk through or let it close.
Beautiful musing Dean, and a truth that echoes for us all.
Choices... What subtly important elements they are...
This is another wonderful story of the resilience of the human spirit and the inner strength that rises up to meet and help us, if we are open to receiving. Which seems to me many adventurers are able to recognise and accept. Great musing thank you.
But I often think and see so many people who have no choices and are forced onto steep mountains and difficult trails, journeys not of their own making. I watch people putting on their boots and climbing their own personal mountains every day...24/7.. with no reprieve, no chance of success. How blessed and fortunate are many of us that have choices we can make.
All the more reason for us to live by trying to give back and make some of those trails a little easier for others. Thank you again kindred spirit for doing just that.
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