NOLS Dispatch; Issue 7; Heaven in HD

Just Around the Corner 

Some people would claim that it is impossible to see heaven. That it is untouchable. Unknowable. I disagree. I can witness heaven when ever I want, well, when ever I have 4G. Peaks from far away lands beckon, perfect lines in champagne powder send chills down my spine. It is only when the credits role am I snapped back into reality as hard as any lead fall. Even as the letters appear on this screen, my thoughts drift to the mountains, where my heart longs to be.

Graduation was over a week ago. The time has been spent working, working furiously to put together enough for the next semester. College will be a reality, but the bank may have an account that reads zero dollars when the first bell rings.

Its the feeling right before you kiss your new someone, the butterfly sense that inhabits your stomach with the first turns of the new ski season. The work has been done to get there. Buried deep inside all of us is the sense that even if it all goes wrong, things will turn out to be more then ok when we are pursuing what we are passionate about.

In the madness to acquire the resources that are needed to go to college, the thought crossed my mind, 'cancel your NOLS trip', NOLS would send me most of the money back and would cover all of my first semester costs with some left over.

The idea was quickly discarded.

Four years of my life have been spent gathering the money, like a squirrel gathers food for the winter. It has all been put together, and it is less then 3 weeks away.

My heaven is not going to be the HD screen of my phone. It will be the polarized, 3 dementional, larger then life. reality that will merely be sampled this summer. It will kindle a fire that will burn for the rest of my life. I can hardly wait to get there.


K

Almost Done

I'm in my last hour of high school. I'm so excited and ready to move on. Just thought I should record the moment.

K

Base Camp; Issue 3; Tears of the Past

Final Paragraphs

Last night was a rough night, it was my last concert at Arapahoe High School. Someone hit pause and gave me a flashback to where I was 4 years ago. Arapahoe had three choirs that I could try out for. The week after auditions my name appeared on the board that had made it in. Just thinking that I might have missed the best class of my life had I not taken my teacher up on her dare to try out. Being the new freshman choir was intimidating, but my mind was made up that I would help where ever I could. While a concert looks simple, the work behind the curtain getting everything ready became the niche that needed to be filled.

People trickling out of the auditorium and the stage dark for the final time, the Battle Hymn sung, my time is done. My favorite part was as I was crossing the stage the lights went out as if to say, 'Thank you for the work that you have done,' and my friend darkness comforted me.

I wont sing on that stage again, nor will I oversee risers being assembled, but I leave the program knowing that I have left it in better shape then it was my first day. I cried, and cried, and cried some more. Someone asked me if I was ok, and it was then that I realized that they were tears of joy, not of sadness. I made friendships that I never thought I had, and acquired memories that I will never forget.

I would not trade these last four years for anything.

K

Base Camp; Issue Two

A Quick Update

It seems that we want what we can't have. An interesting thought, and yet one that keeps recurring.

Interesting.

K

NOLS Dispatch; Issue 6; Taking the Camera Out

The Final Breath in the Dark

I am now officially 13 days from graduation. As this chapter is coming to a close, there are so many things that have to be finished, and at the same time could go unfinished and unthought of. I'm not sure anymore. The path seemed to be so certain, so well thought out that it was fool proof. The thoughts of passed dreams left to be forgotten speak up from the darkness; the fireman severing the community, the soldier sacrificing for his country to name a couple. What really chews at my insides is that what I think that my life may be changed a dozen more times before the pieces fall into place. Can and will be changed. 'I don't know' has become the answer that I turn to most, and the one that scares me. More because the unknown is unknown, and undefinable, and by definition, undefined and while society says we can craft it into what ever we want. I believe that the moment has been chosen, and has yet to be discovered. But like any discovery, it can be of surprise or of horror depending on what you thought you might find.  In the video it talks about presuming ones passion but also being able to redefine what the pursuit looks like. 

In Conclusion

The next 3 months will fly by so quickly I will soon be reading this post from my dorm room in Leadville thinking, 'where has the time gone?'. I hope to be able to says that I took everything in that I could, tried new things, and made honest mistakes. I want to be pushed beyond my limits and over come them. To be a light to the broken hearted, while letting my own heart pulse with the seasons. To affect the world, and let the world affect me. As part of enjoying the moment I will write blog posts, a permanent record of my growth. 

Hope you enjoyed the video.

K