The Mountains
Friday, June 1, 2012 at 9:18AM 
I'm not very good at blogging on the run, but I'm going to try. I am in Canada, without my kids and husband, to see my 88 year old Grandma, spend a day with my sister Jill in Banff, visit my sister Tracy at her new house in Southern Alberta, and help my parents settle into their new house in Medicine Hat. It's family time and even though I miss my own little family, it's actually really nice to have some alone time with these beautiful people. The last five years my relationships with them have been overshadowed by the kids and I am enjoying this immensely.
The picture is heading into Banff, which is in the Rocky Mountains. I miss the mountains. I lived next to them for so many years, drove through them, dreamed about them. It was so nice to be in the mountains again and my sister and I had a great time lounging at a spa all afternoon. It was expensive, but so worth it. Yesterday made a little happy place in my mind that I can go back to again and again. I'll write more about our day soon, it was an item from my Life List, as well as one of the five goals I set for myself at Camp Mighty.
Here's another fitting quote from Neil Gaiman's Commencement Speech, which I hope you have listened to or read by now.
"Sometimes the way to do what you hope to do will be clear cut, and sometimes it will be almost impossible to decide whether or not you are doing the correct thing, because you'll have to balance your goals and hopes with feeding yourself, paying debts, finding work, settling for what you can get.
Something that worked for me was imagining that where I wanted to be – an author, primarily of fiction, making good books, making good comics and supporting myself through my words – was a mountain. A distant mountain. My goal.
And I knew that as long as I kept walking towards the mountain I would be all right. And when I truly was not sure what to do, I could stop, and think about whether it was taking me towards or away from the mountain. I said no to editorial jobs on magazines, proper jobs that would have paid proper money because I knew that, attractive though they were, for me they would have been walking away from the mountain. And if those job offers had come along earlier I might have taken them, because they still would have been closer to the mountain than I was at the time."
Everyone should have mountains in their lives. Have a great weekend my friends.
Mountains, Neil Gaiman in Canada, Family
Reader Comments (4)
I love the mountains- more than anything else, they always bring me such joy. Thanks for sharing the beautiful picture & I hope you have a fabulous trip!
My soul is in the lakes, mountains, birches, and pines of the White Mountains of New Hampshire. I can't imagine actually *living* in a place with that much soul, though — wow.
Thanks for sharing the Gaiman speech. I had a tab with the video of the speech open for many days, but never actually watch/listened, because the audio and video on my poor old computer is so bad. I'm so glad that you got the text, and I'm enjoying the way that you have been highlighting excerpts.
Enjoy the weekend! As for us, we have *no plans* — hurrah!
Thank you for this vision! I haven't heard the speech, but I'm going to find it right now. Have a great time with your family!!
Thank you Amanda!
Rachael - so glad you read the transcript, it's just such a great speech for anyone setting out on an unconventional career. I can't imagine living out there, although I know people who do. I'm sure it's very different for them. I do like that it's more special because it exists more in my mind, than in reality.
Thank you Kelly! The link is right up there in the post if you need it.