Carolyn Highland

“Out here we do not have to go to churches and temples to pray to the idea of something greater, we can simply stand before mountains and see it.”

“That is the gift that wilderness gives us. It reminds us of who we are and pushes us to be that. You were always there, it whispers, but it provides us with the clear reflecting glass to see it. This is who you are. This is who we are. Now go. Be it. Wildly, fully, tenaciously.”

“I heard the whisper of or. Or, you could rise. Or, you could pay attention to how magnificent the sun on that ridge looks. Or, you could choose light and joy, regardless of the circumstances. That or is always available to us, no matter how vehemently we pretend it’s not. ”

“The room I’d left for magic swayed and shimmered with all it held, with all that could not have been predicted, reminding me how often we define space by its emptiness rather than its opportunity, its freedom. ”

“You need to maintain that faith, that even when putting one foot in front of another seems like the most taxing exercise imaginable, that you must do it, and you will. That even taking tiny, slow steps out of the woods will get you back to the path. That your best life is out there for you. Eventually, you will be where you need to be. You’re already on your way there. ”

“You must try to live a life that is expansive, that spreads you into the tiniest corners of yourself, that fills you to the brim. If you are feeling small, it is time to go. ”

“I already knew how to do this. I already knew how to dig deep. I already knew that only those who were willing to wade through the suffering with a smile in their hearts would see the splendor of the mountaintop.
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