Essay: The mountain of my dreams

by Gideon Lasco

MY DREAM MOUNTAIN waits for me.

I only see it with my eyes closed, in the days and nights when I feel the wind of life rushing through me, and in the desire to partake in the animation of the world, I surrender myself to the urge to move, and climb, and soar – it awakens my spirit, until the wind itself becomes a whisper, beckoning me further, yonder.

I dream because I climb, and in my climbs I have seen my dreams come into reality. I have seen the dance between beauty and adventure within and around me, and it has convinced me that I am on the right way. I have felt the power of motion, of upliftment, and in it, I see the hand of the Divine; and my gratitude is boundless, for it has given me wonderment and wisdom, pleasure and peace. The spirit that draws us to the mountains is the same spirit that draws us to the heavens. It has always been man’s destiny to reach for greater heights.

I climb because I dream: it is the power of imagination which exacerbates passion, which then becomes my fuel and my fire. It warms my heart even in the coldest of nights, and the comrades who have walked with me in the long and winding trails make this flame even brighter, stronger. There is more to life than mountains, yet it is this same burning passion that I bring to all else. There are invisible summits of life yet they are no different from the ones that we see: one step at a time will take you further, higher, until eventually the clouds will obscure the sorrow and the pain and you will behold the stars.

I keep dreaming, even as I keep climbing.

My dream mountain waits for me. It belongs to a faraway land, but someday I will get there. Between me and my dream mountain are numerous peaks…I will cherish them all, they too will become my teachers and my friends. And when I am ready, I will climb the mountain of my dreams, where the bluest skies and the whitest peaks commune in perfect silence…

MANILA, PHILIPPINES

November 28, 2011.