“There’s a constant tension in climbing, and really all exploration, between pushing yourself into the unknown but trying not to push too far. The best any of us can do is tread that line carefully.” Alex Honnold
Nothing I'm not entirely certain of the day, but I know it began long ago when I descended the valley straight and began to climb my towering life, each step shedding some load while gaining expectations in my stead, longing, longing for the top, seeking for a vision, holding my cool, until at long last I arrived, with nothing to see and nothing to do, relief flooded through me, and then a silence so profound, a lightness of everything I carried back to the ground. ©Paul Vincent Cannon
parallax 
Quite an accomplishment, having that calmness
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Yes, if only I could stay in it 🙂
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This a wonderful poem Paul.
One can feel it.
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Thank you so much Rupali, awareness is so precious.
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Good poem, Paul. We need lightness badly in the gravity of it all.
Your poem reminds me of the questions,
What do you do before you’re enlightened? Chop wood, carry water.
What do you do after you’re enlightened? Chop wood, carry water (or if you live in Michigan, carry wood, chop water)
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We sure do need it, I’m finding my meditation more and more vital in these times. Greater clarity of carrying water chopping wood. Many thanks for sharing your insight Lisa.
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❤
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My purely associative reaction is that your poem reminded me of Martin Luther King’s “I’ve been to the mountaintop” speech. Could the Promised Land be “a silence so profound, / a lightness of everything”?
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A strived for state.
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Yes, and yet it is just there, beyond the striving.
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Great and very motivating for others too. Thank you Paul, enjoy your week. Michael
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There’s something about the contemplative. Yes, you too, thank you Michael.
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:-))
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It’s no it easy to read the line.
A beautiful poem, Paul.
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Thank you so much Amy.
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Love that you’re adding quotes too. As long as your poems take the limelight!
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Absolutely, I source the picture and the quote after I’ve written that way I’m not captured by either if that makes sense?
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Very true
>
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Many thanks 🙂
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