This is an old Lakota saying and like most things in life, I love it because it aligns with my own sense of what is true and beautiful.  Today I went for a walk up in the hills and as I headed up the mountain I felt energized and could easily see solutions to my life’s dilemmas.  When I turned around I could see SLC in the distance and I was overcome with both sadness and anger.  I thought about how interesting it was that I was most at peace as I headed into the mountains with nothing ahead of me but the sky, grass, and hills– essentially as I left civilization.  But that as I returned in the direction of my home and a multitude of people I felt increasingly lonely.

While I was heading up my thoughts drifted toward Joe and Travis on Denali.  I hope they are comfortable and not too cold, and slowly making their way toward the summit.  I closed my eyes and said a prayer for them and tried to send some psychic energy– needed or not.  If my prayers could pick their own soundtrack to embody the feeling I got when I closed my eyes, they would play this on repeat:

(It would be perhaps remiss of me to mention that this is my favorite ski movie of all time…)

I’m slowly shifting my focus toward the metaphorical mountains that lay ahead of me, formidable feats as well.