"This present moment / that lives on / to become / long ago." — Gary Snyder This Present Moment, “Go Now”
"Through my twenties I was potting little plants all over. Some I was watering more than others; some I was harvesting from more than others. But by my thirties I could see which plants were still alive and flourishing." — Unknown heard on a podcast
"We’re all aging—what can we do with that? How can we look at it differently? How can we take care of ourselves, push ourselves, or just constantly work on getting to know ourselves better?" — Hilaree Nelson
"If you cultivate your ability to create Adventure, wherever you are, you will feel alive." — Paul Ramer Backcountry Magazine, Issue 2, "Where's the Adventure?"
"The journey you travel on your feet is less important than the distance you cover in your head." — Mishka Shubaly
"The journey is the reward...Embracing the journey, focusing on things in my control, accepting what I have no control over, acknowledging missteps, doing the best with the hand I am dealt, and focusing on the process not the end result—this is the essential mindset." — Jeremy Jones The Art of Shralpinism
"Focusing on safety, or security, is the biggest inhibition to having a new adventure... To hide from the exposure of our circumstance is also to hide from the beauty of it." — Lucas Roman Alpinist Magazine, Issue 81, "Exposure"
"Experience is the hardest kind of teacher. It gives you the test first and the lesson afterward." — Oscar Wilde
"I couldn't reach this moment any sooner than now, because I've needed all my knowledge and experience to be standing here." — Jeremy Jones The Art of Shralpinism
"...each footstep isn't just a means to an end but a unique event in itself...To live only for some future goal is shallow. It's the sides of the mountain which sustain life, not the top." — Robert M. Pirsig Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
"If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together." — African proverb
"I am growing increasingly aware that friendship is worth much more than success. Friends have remained and everything else is history." — Nejc Zaplotnik, translated by Mimi Marinsek Alpinist Magazine, Issue 74, "Nejc Zaplotnik, Mountain Poet", excerpted from "Pot"
"I am alone like an arrow in flight, but I remember the bow and the strong arm that pulled it." — Jim Reynolds
"It conjures up an image of two tiny fair-haired children's heads with great brown trusting eyes. In those eyes I can discern a trace of admiration. At the same time, I also discern a narrow, hidden, brand-new path that has just awoken yet is completely independent of me. A tiny path on which new personalities will be shaped. To these new personalities, their father represents only a temporary role model, which they will soon leave, free and independent, like I want to be myself." — Nejc Zaplotnik, translated by Mimi Marinsek Alpinist Magazine, Issue 74, "Nejc Zaplotnik, Mountain Poet", excerpted from "Pot"
"Stuff your eyes with wonder, live as if you’d drop dead in ten seconds. See the world. It’s more fantastic than any dream made or paid for in factories. Ask no guarantees, ask for no security, there never was such an animal. And if there were, it would be related to the great sloth which hangs upside down in a tree all day every day, sleeping its life away. To hell with that, shake the tree and knock the great sloth down on his ass." — Ray Bradbury Fahrenheit 451
"This is one corner… of one country, in one continent, on one planet that’s a corner of a galaxy that’s a corner of a universe that is forever growing and shrinking and creating and destroying and never remaining the same for a single millisecond. And there is so much, so much to see." — 11th Doctor Doctor Who, "The Power of Three"
"...sees what it didn’t see before, or sees in a new way what it had already seen." — Nan Shepherd The Living Mountain
"You see, the thing is, I had every reason to stay. To trudge on at my “grown up” job, remain in the comfort of my home, enjoy the consolation that my friends are just a text away, and basking in the glory of exploring the Northwest wonderland. Then it began. It started out as a faint whisper—a fleeting thought. As time passed, the murmur grew to a soft voice. I could make out what it was saying, “dream, run, live, and never look back.” I tossed it a bit of attention, but decided to reduce the “thought” to an unrealistic, fanciful whim. One afternoon, my entire being was flooded by something similar to a thunderous roar. As it settled into a calm, I recognized it as the call I had ignored so many times before. “Come,” it said. I was overwhelmed with a sensation, a resolve— it’s the kind that everyone feels, but only a few dare to answer. It’s what makes us the “wild ones”. It’s the call of the wild and untamed—an invitation to live. … Some people are calling it a “mid-life crisis”. Others are referring to it as a “life-altering” experience, questioning “are you ready for something like this?” Fortunately, a lot of people are wonderfully supportive. Me? I’m just going through the motions. This whole escapade might seem outlandish, but it is anything but impossible. Call it what you want, but to me, this is the idea… the feeling… the calling… the ultimate adventure. We are the “wild ones”, and we say “yes, and amen” to every crazy invitation that life throws at us." — Lisa Dougherty Stay Wild Magazine, Spring 2015, "The Conscious Kind Project"
"People often ask “Why?” and I wonder – why not? I’m not anyone special. I am just someone who believed in herself. Someone who would never have been able to spend the rest of my life standing still in one place, dreaming of being somewhere different, wondering if I was capable. I know the future me will never question why she did any of these things, she will just be glad she did." — Alex Mason Adventure Journal, "Getting Out to Get Out of a Stale Life"
"The secret of getting ahead is getting started." — Mark Twain
