Tara was an explorer at mind and body. She could not stay still for even an hour. She had a constant longing to find something new, do something worth living life for. She did not believe in afterlife or pre-life or any of that, but she had a strong sense of who she was, the real her. She believed she was her body, the collection of her atoms configured in a particular way that no one or nothing else would ever be. She was a unique thing, that will never be, after she is absorbed back by the Universe.
That fateful day, Tara was hiking up a mountain she had visited several times before. It was not very high or challenging from her perspective, but it was her favorite mountain, maybe her favorite place on Earth. The summit. There was something about being up there, completely alone. Completely lost. She never returned the same day, so she would go ready with her tent, sleeping supplies, water, her food bars and all the goods. She loved to camp at the summit, watch the sunrise, then hike down through the next day. The rising of the Sun was what she liked to think as a spiritual experience for her, even though she did not believe in the spirit or soul the way most people talked about it. There was nothing like it. She knew the science behind it, that in fact there is no such thing as an actual rising of the Sun, that it was just the Earth and Sun positioned a particular way, and so forth. She knew that since she was a middle schooler. But that did not matter. The perception was all there was. That was your truth.
She woke up as usual before her alarm went off. She hated using an alarm but she did it anyway, since she did not want to miss the sunrise for anything. The first hint of light was already on the far horizon. The wind was chilly. Other than the occasional sound of wind, it was utter, absolute silence. The stars were still visible, but slowly started to fade away as the Sun started to assert its dominion over that time and place. She could almost feel those photons hit her. She could almost feel the motion of herself around the Sun. The sunlight touched the tips of the mountains, lighting them up like fireless candles. It was summer, so there was almost no snow, except on a few of the mountain tops. One by one, the few snowy tops shone like beacons to guide you through your journey, as the rest of the valley was still relatively dark.
One day, she knew, all this would change. All this would be gone. She would be absorbed back into the Earth. The Sun would turn into a dead star, the Earth would be scorched. The mountains would melt into lava. Everything would change, everything always did. But this moment was all that mattered. She was completely lost, and had no desire to be found. She wished everyone else knew how to be lost. She was appalled and surprised at how people would worry over and fight over the silliest things, held on to their own beliefs and truths and rejected the 'truth' of others. If only they knew what it was like to be 'here'.
As the sun took over the region completely filling it with warming light, she packed up and left the summit. But she had no idea where she was going. She was lost.
That fateful day, Tara was hiking up a mountain she had visited several times before. It was not very high or challenging from her perspective, but it was her favorite mountain, maybe her favorite place on Earth. The summit. There was something about being up there, completely alone. Completely lost. She never returned the same day, so she would go ready with her tent, sleeping supplies, water, her food bars and all the goods. She loved to camp at the summit, watch the sunrise, then hike down through the next day. The rising of the Sun was what she liked to think as a spiritual experience for her, even though she did not believe in the spirit or soul the way most people talked about it. There was nothing like it. She knew the science behind it, that in fact there is no such thing as an actual rising of the Sun, that it was just the Earth and Sun positioned a particular way, and so forth. She knew that since she was a middle schooler. But that did not matter. The perception was all there was. That was your truth.
She woke up as usual before her alarm went off. She hated using an alarm but she did it anyway, since she did not want to miss the sunrise for anything. The first hint of light was already on the far horizon. The wind was chilly. Other than the occasional sound of wind, it was utter, absolute silence. The stars were still visible, but slowly started to fade away as the Sun started to assert its dominion over that time and place. She could almost feel those photons hit her. She could almost feel the motion of herself around the Sun. The sunlight touched the tips of the mountains, lighting them up like fireless candles. It was summer, so there was almost no snow, except on a few of the mountain tops. One by one, the few snowy tops shone like beacons to guide you through your journey, as the rest of the valley was still relatively dark.
One day, she knew, all this would change. All this would be gone. She would be absorbed back into the Earth. The Sun would turn into a dead star, the Earth would be scorched. The mountains would melt into lava. Everything would change, everything always did. But this moment was all that mattered. She was completely lost, and had no desire to be found. She wished everyone else knew how to be lost. She was appalled and surprised at how people would worry over and fight over the silliest things, held on to their own beliefs and truths and rejected the 'truth' of others. If only they knew what it was like to be 'here'.
As the sun took over the region completely filling it with warming light, she packed up and left the summit. But she had no idea where she was going. She was lost.
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