04/27/2023 AGEIST Newsletter 338

We often speak of the value of novelty, of getting out and seeing new things; that being around newness helps keep our worlds from contracting. There is also a value in continuity and habit, which may not be as counterintuitive as one may think.  If one observes closely, there is novelty everywhere, as nothing ever stays the same. This last year, I was up on the mountain, skiing almost daily; 98 days is the current count. By going up more or less every day, 20 below zero days, 50 degree sunny days, stormy days, slushy days, and foggy days, I developed a knowledge of the mountain in its entirety with its varied moods that one only gets if one is there all the time. And I saw amazing things that I probably only noticed as I became aware of day-to-day changes. 

There is a line in the original Blade Runner where Roy speaks about the amazing scenes he has witnessed in his short life. That line comes to mind when I describe what it was like on an incredibly cold yet sunny day when everything, including the air, was alive with glitter. Unforgettable, and only seen if one had the stubborn fortitude to go up there when it was 20 below zero. I once had a property on a much smaller mountain, really a hill, in upstate NY. One evening, I witnessed an invasion, or perhaps migration, of moths that nearly blotted out the sky. It only lasted for a few hours; the next day they were gone. It was a magic moment, and part of the ever-changing world around us.

Being up on a mountain brings me to a state of open wonder, enlarging my senses of what is happening around me. That is just my jam. For some people, it may be their garden, or their kids, or walking daily in a museum or the local park. Not to get too woo woo, but keeping a sense of wonder is a surefire antidote to fossilization. Now is not then. Now is utterly unique and transitory, and to be valued as such. If we are living in the past or projecting a future, we are not in the now and are probably not able to observe and to marvel at this incredible life we are part of. As Dr Richard Davidson once told me, there are 4 pillars to wellbeing: awareness, connection, insight, and purpose, with the very first step being awareness. 

Onward and upward,
David