"Of Experience And Perception..."

"I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of experience...".  P. Henry

"Of Experience And Dimensions..."

"A mind that is streched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions...".  O.W. Holmes

"Of Wisdom And Experience..."

"It is costly wisdom that is bought by experience...".  R. Ascham

"Of Mystery And Experience..."

"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious...".  A. Einstein

"They Remain With Us Forever..."

“Many things are forgotten over time... We’re so caught up in our everyday lives that events of the past are no longer in orbit around our minds. There are just too many things we have to think about everyday, too many new things we have to learn. But still, no matter how much time passes, no matter what takes place in the interim, there are some experiences we can never assign to oblivion, memories we can never rub away. They remain with us forever, like a touchstone...".  H. Murakami

"Of Farther Experiences..."

"Experience is what you often get when you didn't get exactly what you wanted... And experience is also often the most valuable thing you have to offer...".  R. Pausch

"What We Do With Our Experiences..."

"Experience is not what happens to a man; it is what a man does with what happens to him...".  A. Huxley

"Of Storms & Lessons..."

“And once the storm is over, you won’t remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won’t even be sure, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm’s all about...”.  H. Murakami

"A Few Of Grey Wolf's Cherished Lessons..."

"Elusive lessons hold the most to be learned...".
"You will find more in these mountains than climbing...".
"You will not find all of your reasons in these mountains or on those lakes. What you find out there you had within you all along. These places are just a trail towards those lands inside of you that have yet to be travelled...".
"Collect experiences, not things, for that is what will truly nourish you...".

"Adventure Experiences Teach Us..."

"Experience is a patient, and at times a hard teacher. For she gives the test first, and any lessons then come after...".  Anon

"Of Dreaming, Then Waking..."

Maybe the first time I heard this on Outward Bound, I was tired and a bit grouchy, but now years later these words echo out with so many more memories and meanings...
Our Outward Bound leaders said it only a few times to us, then expected us to do so for one another. Responsibility and owning the moments were a big part of the lessons back then. These same Outward Bound mentors said this too when it was now time to concentrate, to really focus, and to be vigilant as we climbed and crossed over those high mountains. They quietly stated this as well when we struggled with our attitudes & beliefs about the adversities we were facing, and how they inspired us to forever find more within than we ever first realized...
Those many other Mountain & Sea Kayak Guides who I am also very grateful for, said this too in so many ways, as they shared and mentored those essential skills and elemental perceptions for being safe and sure of ourselves out there.
"Time to wake up...".
An informed, centered, quietly yet lively expression for learning.
These words have also taken on such meaning, as a mantra from my teachers who gently taught us about meditation. Then invited and challenged me in particular to practice this while I was actually out wandering the wild places.
We each awaken in our own ways out there don't we my Friends. As when below the stars, or gazing up too towards the rainbows following us. We eventually see what we did not before, amidst all the storms and up among our summits. We become more sentiently inspired and aware, like about the wild ones and their vulnerable lives.
Then everything from the crux's, the solo's, to the winds and waves, the edges and efforts, from resting under our tarps & tents - all become possibilities. Also to the canyons, mountains, coastlines, and northern lakes - which all invite us to awaken and further perceive & understand, to now distinguish and truly begin to know...
Even when I notice I've felt like my adventure day did not go as expected, usually due to health complications, then it also a time for waking up and being aware of the whole journey. Because difficulties are relative, and endurance can be more than fitness - as each and every one of the links under my 'Giving Back & Passing Forward' section courageously show us time and time again. They give name to what it means to be mindful of what is really important within it all...
"Time to wake up...", echoes out those beautifully attentive meanings.
"Take notice", quietly says the wild places. "Let ourselves see...", then invites our adventures.
Such an important yet subtle message.
When we do become even a bit more awake, and we are also no longer 'sleeping' in those ways, then we seek further edges, the challenges are so full of fun, the journeys are farther freedoms, the trails will all surely lead towards connection, and our attention can be seen in our shared smiles and epiphanies.
Time to awaken, an echo long ago from Outward Bound, now a readiness to carry on..... DSD

My appreciation again Dear Friends for sharing your images with us all.

"Of Dreaming Great Things..."

"To accomlish great things we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe...".  A. France

"Farther Into Dreams..."

"In dreams begin responsibilities...".  W.B. Yeats

"A Dream Yet To Be..."

There is a river out there I know well, but have yet to run all of it. It is not the longest, or largest, nor the most grand - yet it holds a truly unique beauty within its' remote fluid wildness.

Near this river is a small somewhat hidden valley. I so want to journey down between the high rock walls that embrace the older growth forests held closely there. Some of those streams from this valley feed the waters of that river which is the only way to access this undiscovered area on my map.

At the far end, at the very farthest point from this river I have yet to paddle, is an unusual mountain. Not the highest, but certainly the most aesthetic one nearby. It is a severe craggy rock, with old ice and deep snow upon it on a scale not seen on many high points now. The summit of this distant mountain may not likely have ever been visited, other than by the wind or the feathered ones, or so it feels when I dream about it.

A season does not go by where I do not also find myself again envisioning a journey upon that river, down that pristine valley, and then slowly ascending that elusive mountain...

We all have such wild places & plans, possibly misplaced dreams that we need to revisit, from deep within our hearts, where our spirit longs to wander.

The energy of life is made up of such hope and dreams.

I hope to dream again of my secret adventure yet to be, once again tonight..... DSD

 

"When We Wake..."

"When I wake up it's wonderful, like I've been carried quietly onto a calm, peaceful shore, and the dream, and its meaning, has broken over me like a wave and is ebbing away now, leaving me with a single, solid certainty...".  L. Oliver

"Unless..."

"Nothing happens unless first a dream...".  C. Sandburg

"Putting Boots On Our Dreams..."

To ponder is one thing. to muse another.
Reflection is wonderful, and dreaming is a gift.
We have such abilities to envision all that we so want to wander among and through. Our minds create the possibilities, and then it is time to climb further...
"Put some boots on your dreams", our Outward Bound Instructor said.
Then we were to learn of the wild places beyond contemplation; of the terrain of taking actions. These were steps on trails of another kind, towards horizons of dreams now made very real.
'Boots on our dreams' - a so potent shared metaphor, said so long ago to us, long pondered over many more seasons, and now passed forward once more to all of you Dear Friends..... DSD

Dedicated this adventure day to all our wonderful Outward Bound Schools.

"Only....."

"Only as high as I reach can I grow.
Only as far as I seek can I go.
Only as deep as I look can I see.
Only as much as I dream can I be...".  K. Ravn

"That Which Is Dreamed..."

"That which is dreamed can never be lost, can never be undreamed...".  N. Gaiman

"Explore, Dream, Discover..."

"Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the things you did. So throw off the bowlines. Explore. Dream. Discover...". M. Twain

"We All Have Them..."

We all have blue mountains within our dreams, and distant endearing islands too,
Hidden wild places we very much hope to see, with so many possibilities awaiting there...
We all have blue high mountains within our dreams, and hidden islands too,
Elusive experiences we simply call adventures, our personal journeys of effort, mind, and spirit...
We all have blue stormy mountains within our dreams, and misty islands too,
Such ephemeral memories that are yet to be, true paths and trails we are each destined to share...
We all have countless blue mountains within our dreams, and endless islands too,
Always echoing from our ancient selves, while we forever seek such horizons to this very day... DSD

"But Above All..."

"For the stone from the top for geologists, the knowledge of the limits of endurance for the doctors, but above all for the spirit of adventure to keep alive the soul of man...".   G. Mallory

"It Is We..."

"We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams...".  A. O'Shaughnessy

"Of Hope And Dreams..."

"Hope... is a waking dream...".  Aristotle

"When Our Dreams Take Flight..."

There is a very old legend, an ancient positive omen, that tells of a flying Eagle and the mysterious huge shadow it makes upon the waters they often journey over...

The legend says that if you are timely enough, likely even skilled enough too, you may become part of that special moment when an Eagle takes flight over water.

If you indeed lucky enough, this positive omen also suggests that then your own dreams, the things you hold most dear, will also take flight as well.

Adventures are all about dreams.

Adventurers are inherently dreamers.

We live our dreams out there as we wander and trek, scramble and climb, paddle and raft, among the mysteries and wonders of the wild places.

It's as if we have all at one time been embraced by the Eagle's shadow over the waters.

On a past solo sea kayak trip, in order to fulfill some distant island longings, I was drifting closer to a rocky shoreline with many old growth trees reaching far up and out over the waters.

The shadows I drifted among shimmered with the occasional ray of golden sunlight and reflected sea bottom.

I then noticed that very large, darkly shaped shadow on the water, which could only be a very certain unique nest up so high in these old trees. When my kayak touched that shadow, it moved and grew in size and shape, and when I gazed up those huge living wings could now also be seen.

To drift for such a long time in the shadow of an Eagle over water.

What wonderful, elusive moments...

Now I am pondering, and especially dreaming even more, as I very much believe in such ancient omens and timeless legends..... DSD 

 

"Our Shared Wonderous Oceans..."

For our shared International Oceans Day...

“The three great elemental sounds in nature are the sound of rain, the sound of wind in a primeval wood, and the sound of outer ocean on a beach”...  H. Beston
“Faith is knowing there is an ocean because you have seen a brook...”.  W. A. Ward
“Limitless and immortal, the waters are the beginning and end of all things on earth...”.  H. Zimmer
“We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea, whether it is to sail or to watch, we are going back from whence we came...".  J. F. Kennedy
“One drop of water helps to swell the ocean. … None are too small, too feeble, too poor to be of service. Think of this and act...”. H. Moore
“Ocean is more ancient than the mountains, and freighted with the memories and the dreams of Time...”.  H.P. Lovecraft
“Oceans are a mighty harmonist...”.  W. Wordsworth
“The least movement is important to all nature. The entire ocean is affected by a pebble...”.  B. Pascal
“In every outthrust headland, in every curving beach, in every grain of sand there is the story of the earth...”.  R. Carson

Hiking on such secluded beaches, writing so many ponderings in the sand.
Words about wild places we have experienced, notes for ourselves about being here, and then where we now want to journey.
Stories in the sand of who it is we each want to become in those moments. All ways to beach scribe by an ocean, to journal in such a wonderful way...
Another means for envisioning our adventures, while gazing out upon both the waves and such sandy musings in time.
Now while standing very still, and looking out over oceans of dreams and desires, seeing our scribblings once more in the sand, being caressed and moved by the winds gentle breezes.
These ephemeral ponderings become hopes for our wanderings yet to come.
Now we are listening more closely, to the murmurs of the waves, for they also respond to our words and their echoes.
Long coastal beach hiking adventures, with sandy words that now become paths and trails, they speak aloud of the potential and promises we feel, so very deep in our hearts out there..... DSD 

"Our Trails Always Meet Us Where We Are At..."

This is true, regardless of wherever on our maps we begin, or whenever we finally set out on those paths. However we start, full of anticipations & excitement, possibly a touch of doubt or anxiousness, maybe even wanting to leave behind some of the distractions from back here, and surely seeking out fun & freedoms out there.
Wherever, whenever, however - the trail always meets us right exactly where we are at...
This is not only a profoundly simple metaphor we mused over back on Outward Bound, nor only some kind of symbolism we have pondered over longer years since. For whatever adventures we choose to embark upon, we each can always be assured of the endlessly hospitable invitations of the wild places. These are our very own quiet accepting callings from far away...
The consistent greetings from the wind are always there. The embracements of both sun and moon forever present. The close connections around our campfires are truly lasting. Then there are the welcoming affections from the waters, the stone itself, and from all the elements then blending together.
The reception we are given, the genuine greetings always made, are the ways wherein the wild places truly make us feel at peace and at home out there.
What initially may only seem like terrain under our boots, becomes depths of emotion and such lasting memories, reflecting the experiences of every unfolding step thereafter.
Oh, the trail does indeed always meet us just exactly where we are at, and forever gladly received do we then forever feel..... DSD

"Beside Us..."

"With the long trails... I'm in the habit of rarely stopping, but I keep turning and listening to the silence, as if someone walks beside me...". J. Auld

"Our Shared International Trails Day..."

Words within a poem from the trail,
A mantra for certain fulfilling motivation,
All about such enduring momentum,
Yet also reflecting our deep emotion...
'Further' became the invocation,
A chanting over very long distance,
Looking past perceived limitations,
And further it was we went...
'Forward' was the clear saying,
Regardless of the many external challenges,
Or of our internal hurdles too,
For forward it now was...
'Upward' was the powerful inspiration,
Shared in such potent moments,
To go beyond assumed limitations,
Then upward was our direction...
'Inward' is now our shared song,
In midst of these special times to sing,
About our unique adventure paths,
And the real journey we discover out there...
Our quests within wonderful adventures,
Poetic words found upon a trail,
Further, forward, onward, upwards, and inwards,
Now it forever is..... DSD

Dedicated for our shared International Trails Day today, for Outward Bound who guides so many of us on our first trails, to those who continue on their chosen trails while Adventuring For Another Reason , and to my Partners In Passing Forward smiles all along the way.

"Behind The Veil..."

"The old Roman Sage Epictetus is saying, see behind the veil of things. Everything matters along the path, but what matters deeply is what is invisible and must be seen with the inner eye...".  P. Cousineau

"There Are Passageways..."

"It seems we have a taste for the effects of weather and wind... We cleave to the subtle, magical light of the broad, expansive, flats of snow and rock... There are passageways to which we are drawn, upward through the mountain's facades of stone...".   P. Ament