"This Path..."

The path... Our path... Your path...

Seemingly of only rocks and stone, of ice and snow.

Countless places, where to start.

So many steps that may be taken.

This path.

That twists and turns, through canyons and valleys,

Meandering across coastlines and islands,

Above and below tree lines,

Traversing ridges and mountains.

Such paths.

Are guarded by weather and wild furred ones,

Watched over by aged ancient trees and bright flowers,

Shaded too by cliffs and so high rock towers.

These joined paths.

Always serenaded by winds and waves,

Beautiful songs we hear,

Such echoes they make.

The path. Your path. Our path.

Setting moons upon rising suns,

Towards horizons everlasting,

Our shared trails towards ourselves..... DSD

"So Many Paths..."

"Many paths lead to the summit. But it takes a whole body to get there. We are all trying to get to the summit, and there are many valid paths leading to the top. Of course, the view and terrain on one side of the mountain will differ from the other, but the summit is identical no matter what your approach. Whatever your path, all that matters is that you commit yourself totally to following it. As long as we all climb, each from our own direction, we will reach the summit...". Deng Ming-Dao

"The Same Track..."

"You are not alone,

there are others on their way,

on the same track.

The track may be narrow and steep,

and boring and frightening,

but everybody walks on it.

You are not alone.

But linked to everything around you...".

Zen Saying

"For Fur, Feathers, And Fins Fridays..."

"To run with the wolf was to run in the shadows,

the dark ray of life, survival, and instinct.

A fierceness that was both proud and lonely, a tearing, a howling,

a hunger and thirst.

A strength that would die fighting, kicking, screaming,

that wouldn't stop until the last breath,

had been wrung from its body.

The will to take one's place in the world.

To say 'I am here'.

To say 'I am'...".

O.R. Melling

"Worth It All....."

What is our own 'Adventure Quid Pro Quo' we sometimes wonder...
What are we willing to give up to get. What is our equation of 'this for that', our own 'what for what', our exchanges of effort, of transactions reflecting value or worth.
This seems to be a key theme many times out there: the worth of these experiences for each of us adventurers; the meanings within it all...
Are the efforts worth it? Is all that training a price we are prepared to pay? Is the endurance & sweat and the endless preparation going to be exchanged for an object of value to us? All of that study, practice, need for coordinating ourselves & others - is all of that equity going to transition into something worth its' weight in...
The time especially might be a crucial measurement in our accounting, as is the possibility of injury, setbacks, and risk. 
Are these worth it all?
Is the Quid Pro Quo of these fundamental elements going to match the meaning, the importance, the significance of the journey for us?
Absolutely my Friends.
For we most certainly always create an internal value, a dearness, a lasting utility, and a goodness - reflecting the virtues of our adventures and the essential meanings they hold out for us.
There will never be a more equitable Quid Pro Quo..... DSD 
Dedicated to all those who are Adventuring For Another Reason this early wandering season.

"Something Very Cleansing About Sweat..."

"Do you know a cure for me?

Why Yes, he said, I know a cure for everything.

Salt water.

Salt water I asked him.

Yes, he said, in one form or another,

sweat, tears, or the salt sea...".

Isak Dinesen

An intriguing old Outward Bound saying, this musing, about there being just 'something very cleansing about sweat'...
A high level of effort, focus, and concentration are almost always required when we adventure so. This process though, is not just about attaining goals out there, yet also more mysteriously about the transmutation of energy too.
When we are working it out high on a mountain, or far away upon an open ocean, we are more than simply moving. We are tempering our very selves, and essentially distilling our dreams as well.
In those deep dry desert canyons, we discover ways and means for purifying while canyoneering. For letting go, and moving past, any other kind of fevered distractions.
On a fifty degree slope, then getting ourselves through the crux of a climb, we are curing ourselves. pushing our bodies, mind, and spirit beyond what we had ever before thought possible.
After endless days out on our longest hike, we labour, toil, and then revel in the moisture emitting from our honed bodies and brow.
Anyone who has peeled off their neoprene after hours out riding extreme winds and waves, knows exactly what I mean too.
What amazing paradox's these adventure experiences at first seem...
One of the byproducts of our adventure rituals is sweat. 
And there is something very cleansing, even extremely healing, about this product of perseverance.
We move so and remove unneeded issues. We push so and eliminate that which is not necessary. Then we discover freedom among all these elements of effort...
Such cleansing endurance is a potent passage, a means of discovering so much more within than we ever first realized.
We may not be as clean by any means as in the beginnings of our journeys, but that simply doesn't matter. We've distilled ourselves down to the important things - the truly necessary basics, of vision and dreams, fulfilled by muscle, bone, and tendon.
We have also exercised our intentions which induces real meaning, resulting in motivation and musings of significance.
There is just something pure, very cleansing, even gently healing, within such reflections upon our earned adventurous sweat..... DSD

"The Energy Within Exploring..."

"Equipped with our five senses,

along with telescopes and microscopes and mass spectrometers,

and seismographs and magnetometers and particle accelerators,

and detectors sensitive to the entire electromagnetic spectrum,

we explore the universe around us,

and call the adventure - science...".

Edwin Hubble

"Our Very Precious Energy..."

"Life's a pretty precious and wonderful thing.

You can't sit down and let it lap around you.

You have to plunge into it.

You have to dive through it.

And you can't save it, you can't store it up, you can't horde it in a vault.

You've got to taste it.

You've got to use it.

The more you use, the more you have.

That's the miracle of it...".

L.S. Crichton

"Two Choices Of Energies..."

"It takes as much energy,

to wish,

as it does to plan...".

E. Roosevelt

"Powerful Energies..."

"It's as if I have become truly part of the mountain, a working willing partner, harnessed to its energies, subject to its temperament, always conscious of its majesty... The mountain is always fierce, to the extreme; that is part of its power and strength. Beneath its surface the fierceness lies slumbering; it is like a wild animal, sleek, soft, beautiful, but always you are conscious of the terrible power that can be unleashed should the mountain choose.

On the mountain there is only one language, and we all try to speak it as best we can...".  N. Shulman

"Life's Energies..."

"It ushered me back to the forest,

back to the life energy that connects us all as one divine consciousness,

and urges me to never lose sight of it, and to always protect it,

in a world where people are forgetting and shunning the natural for the digital.

In the forest I sense the animals, the trees, the leaves,

and them growing all around me.

Suddenly, I feel my spirit animals,

and they surround me with a sense of healing energy, 

and I feel very maternal and moved to protect the Earth itself,

and all the people in it...".

L. Reah

"Adventure Energies..."

I've heard Mountain & Sea Kayak Guides, as well as our Outward Bound Instructors, all mention it. 
We've seen it in action in the Grand Canyon; experienced it in ways hard to describe while climbing and when out upon the ocean; felt it so sustain us on longer treks. 
And we are still seeking out the meanings of to 'go where the energy is'... 
I believe this to be a quietly, profoundly, simply important concept for those of us who wander. We only need to witness its' magic once in a fellow adventurer, after seeing them so tired and worn out past where a person would be expected to last. Yet they do... 
We see them discover a different source of energy, a whole new wellspring of enthusiasm and motivation to keep on going. It is then we ask: What is this means for motion have they tapped into; what elemental energies have they aligned with? 
While as individuals we do vary in our physical makeup, in our internal energies of motivation and drive, and as well in how our external objectives then pull each of us forward - energy is the essence that any adventurer draws upon to make their wild place dreams become real. 
Ability is only the beginning. 
Energy is what makes it sustaining. 
So, what does this mean - 'to go where the energy is'? Could it be about those places of geomancy where a force, some kind of latent power, emanates from the elements themselves? 
Might it be the synergy of shared vigour and fun that group activity out there radiates in countless dynamic ways? 
What is hidden behind that which incites each of us, that causes our hearts to beat so, that stimulates our mind, our spirit, the very core of our being? 
Maybe it is the potential to be discovered within every new experience; possibly the passions each of us have that fuels our personal flames; or also quite likely the endless variations of the elements themselves that never cease to inspire each of us out there. So wherever your elemental enthusiasms wait for you Dear Finder, trek towards them, embrace them, allow yourself to be infused by them. Ask yourself right then, why does this stimulate me so, what is it that I want here, what do I want this to mean, why is this so important for me. 
Such questions and the resulting musings will surely guide each of us to where your own lasting energies await..... DSD

"Farther Musings On Energy..."

"If you want to find the secrets of the Universe.

Think in terms of energy, frequency, and vibration...".

Nikola Tesla

"Muir's Energy..."

"Climb these summits and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their freshness into you and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves." J. Muir
It was an Outward Bound instructor who was first to introduce me to this special quote by Muir. It is one I have pondered, mused, and planned from over these many years. 
A quote that set directions for me from all points of the compass...

Did you know that the actual writing of this quote is found to contain either the word 'mountains' or the word 'summits'. While being told the first version, the latter now resonates with me as the image of 'summits' has come to mean a great deal more too than the very top of a single mountain.

Some state Muir wrote it both ways as he did with many other notes and journal entries, when he composed and then revised his musings, at different levels, after different experiences, and over long years of ponderings.

That Outward Bound instructor was so right, and Muir's words have indeed rung so true, over these past decades of wild place journeys and within so many adventure seasons.

I often re-read this 'first quote' while looking towards the horizon.

For many more of such summits, sunshine, winds and storms, are waiting, patiently waiting. Just like these quotes do.

To simply be discovered and enjoyed out there..... DSD

"All Things Possible..."

"I know it is something of a cliche,

to say that love makes all things possible,

but I believe it does.

It is not a magic wand that can be waved over life,

to make it all sweet and lovely and trouble free,

but it can give the energy to fight the odds and win...".

Mary Balogh

"Of Energy..."

"The energy of the mind,

is the essence of life...".

Aristotle

"For Fur, Feathers, And Fins Friday's..."

"Allow mystery, which is to say to yourself, 'There could be more, there could be things we don't understand'..." B. Lopez
I once was able to watch a grey wolf at play when out on an adventure. This animal was a mystery in motion to me. At that time I knew so little about them, and yet found myself so very impressed by its grace of movement and its playful behavior. When it finally looked over in my direction and met my gaze, there was a moment there, where I wondered who was really watching who... 
"The Bella Coola Indians believed that someone tried to change all the animals into men but succeeded in making human only the eyes of the wolf." B. Lopez
"If you could be an animal, what animal would you be? Answering that question creates a powerful personal metaphor." Grey Wolf
Adventures are inherently full of mystery.
Isn't that one of the many things that may draw us to what is adventuresome.
I think I would like to be a wolf even for a day.....DSD 

"In Part Because Of..."

"In part because of being hemmed in,

the tree in the forest would not be forced to marshal its power,

to grow towards the light.

It must truly bring forth,

all its inner strength,

to spread its branches.

If it survives and becomes grand,

it is in part because of its suffering.

Thus the times of adversity,

can be crucial to the development,

of one's inner personality...".

Deng Ming-Dao

"Both..."

"To the untrained eye, ego climbing and selfless climbing may appear identical.

Both kinds of climber place one foot in front of the other.
Both breathe in and out at the same rate.
Both stop when tired.
Both go forward when rested.
But what a difference!
The ego climber is like an instrument that is slightly out of adjustment.
He puts his foot down an instant too soon or too late.
He's likely to miss a beautiful passage of sunlight through the trees.
He goes on when sloppiness of step says he's tired.
He rests at odd times.
He looks up the trail trying to see what's ahead even when he knows what's ahead because he just looked a second before.
Ho goes too fast or too slow for the conditions and when he talks his talk is forever about something else. 
He's here but he is not here...".  R. Pirsig

"Remember Your Breath..."

"When life is foggy,

the path is unclear,

remember your breath.

It has the power to give you peace.

It has the power to resolve

the unsolved equations of life...".

Amit Ray

"Breathe....."

“It is a common belief that we breathe with our lungs alone, but in point of fact, the work of breathing is done by the whole body. The lungs play a passive role in the respiratory process. Their expansion is produced by an enlargement, mostly downward, of the thoracic cavity and they collapse when that cavity is reduced. Proper breathing involves the muscles of the head, neck, thorax, and abdomen. It can be shown that chronic tension in any part of the body's musculature interferes with the natural respiratory movements.
Breathing is a rhythmic activity. Normally a person at rest makes approximately 16 to 17 respiratory incursions a minute. The rate is higher in infants and in states of excitation. It is lower in sleep and in depressed persons. The depth of the respiratory wave is another factor which varies with emotional states. Breathing becomes shallow when we are frightened or anxious. It deepens with relaxation, pleasure and sleep. But above all, it is the quality of the respiratory movements that determines whether breathing is pleasurable or not. With each breath a wave can be seen to ascend and descend through the body. The inspiratory wave begins deep in the abdomen with a backward movement of the pelvis. This allows the belly to expand outward. The wave then moves upward as the rest of the body expands. The head moves very slightly forward to suck in the air while the nostrils dilate or the mouth opens. The expiratory wave begins in the upper part of the body and moves downward: the head drops back, the chest and abdomen collapse, and the pelvis rocks forward.
The importance of breathing need hardly be stressed. It provides the oxygen for the metabolic processes; literally it supports the fires of life. But breath as "pneuma" is also the spirit or soul. We live in an ocean of air like fish in a body of water. By our breathing we are attuned to our atmosphere. If we inhibit our breathing we isolate ourselves from the medium in which we exist. In all Oriental and mystic philosophies, the breath holds the secret to the highest bliss...”

Alexander Lowen 

"Breathe..."

"Breathe in the beauty all around you...".

A.D. Posey

"Just When..."

Just when we don't think we can, we find our means to further go.
Just about that time when our breath seems gone, we then experience that which truly takes it away.
Around that time when the adversities appear overwhelming, we uncover moments of encouragement to keep on.
In those minutes when the storm almost overtakes us, we now turn into it and discover new strengths before unknown.
Many times when our adventure objectives feel to be beyond us, we then learn it is we ourselves who are the elusive ones. 
Then we begin to understand that there is always, always, more within us then we ever before first realized...
So, just when we might have given up, we sense what depths we really, truly, have deep inside.
Then, just when the trials seem to have drained away our commitment, we learn to appreciate what real endurance is all about.
Also, among those endless winds and waves, just when we think we can't, we start to uncover the ways we can.
And, just when we need it most, our partners always show us what real support and companionship truly is.
Then, once again too, just when we think we've experienced all we can out there, our wild place adventures gently remind us yet again, of awe and wonder, and we begin anew..... DSD 

Dedicated this unfolding spring, too all those who keep going, as they 'Adventure For Another Reason'.