Post Hike Clarity: Notes on Discomfort, Attention, Growth
I just got back from five days of hiking in the Canadian Rockies. Here are a few of the ideas that are floating around my head as I get back into the routine of modern life:
Comfort as a Barrier
A preference for comfort practiced long enough can make life feel small. Occasionally choosing difficulty can remind us of the difference between real and self-imposed boundaries, and how easily the latter can begin to feel permanent.
“Keep close to nature’s heart…and break away, once in a while, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods.” – John Muir
Resilience Through Struggle
Struggle becomes easier to work through when it stops being unfamiliar. Confidence isn’t about knowing things will be easy, but knowing you can move through them when they’re difficult. Experience with the struggle reminds us that discomfort is temporary and manageable.
“You must do the thing you think you cannot do.” — Eleanor Roosevelt
Peace Despite Conditions
Access to a calm body and mind, no matter what the world throws at us, is priceless. Wherever we are, whatever challenge we’re facing, there’s space to find peace and still deal effectively with whatever comes next. Calm doesn’t require ideal circumstances.
“You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.” — Jon Kabat-Zinn
Familiarity Deepens Experience
The new captures our attention, but familiarity directs it toward the less obvious, equally important things around us. Once we stop feeling overwhelmed by everything, we can begin noticing details that were always there and understand what matters most.
“Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity.” — Simone Weil
Repetition Changes What We Learn
The same or similar experience teaches different lessons because we bring different questions, knowledge, and perspectives to it. What may seem like the same experience from the outside becomes unique because of who we are within it and what we’re open to learning.
“We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.”
— T. S. Eliot
