I went to the Secret Life of Walter Mitty,
thought hard about my secret life
My eyes flooded with tears during scenes
in Greenland, Iceland, the Himalayas, and again at the end—
when my partner pulled me to his side

There’s something about a moment,
a moment that has no distractions
A moment that you can fully connect with
You don’t have to take a picture of it
If the moment is real, or that sincere,
that perfect or imperfect, however you look at it
You will remember it
It will affect you

I will forever remember flying over Greenland,
renting a car with a 20-something stranger in Iceland
Trekking in the falling snow up to Khopra
Although it was no ungoverned Afghanistan,
the feeling had to have been the same
Everything seemed so wrong, the unexpected snow,
the intense muscle cramping and lack of air
But when we hiked to the top, there were moments all around us
Beautiful moments of LIFE
Our gathering around the fire
when we finally reached the top
Breaking a small lock
on a screened cabinet door
There was Everest beer in there

These times, these moments, this life
They are yours and soon you will die
The most important thing you have, death
It reaches and teaches few that—because our perceived time is limited,
our LIFE is most important
It is meant to be lived

The idea is to forgo distractions
Not just ordinary distractions
such as expectations from society that have been formed by,
too many factors to count,
but distractions that come solely from fear
We feel safe hiding in comfort
Yet the unknown is exactly what your subconscious is looking for
The unknown is what you and I and we need to grow
If we do not seek out the unknown, we do not grow

The road to comfort is crowded
If only the traffic knew, what lies ahead

The road to discomfort, what you associate with fear
That road is yours to create and it’s not crowded, at all
It’s open, it brings about engagement and change
The road you’re meant for

I have a secret life
only I know of
Because I am the only one
who is truly present in my own moments

There’s a soccer game in the valley across the way
It looks fun, you need to go
You’ll play into the sunset
Don’t worry you’ll make it home eventually

To see the world, things dangerous to come to,
to see behind walls, to draw closer, to find each other and to feel
That this is the purpose of ‘Life’ 

To see the world
To find each other and to feel
That is the purpose of your life

-C

Feature photo: Khopra Ridge by Michael A. Nyffeler