Comments

1. Quote
   John_DB said September 21, 2009, 10:25 am:

   Happy Monday! ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQCrgu8Am2U )

   I think there’s always something to be said for striking a balance. I don’t know the specifics of the climber’s death, but what did his wife say? Did she lament that he put his passion for Everest ahead of his passion for her? Or, as you mention did she want HIM, risks and all? Would the fingers have been wagged so hard if the mountaineer had said “Maybe I’ll skip THIS one, Everest isn’t going anywhere, and its an important time at home. I’ll climb in a bit.”? I suppose that takes us to passion versus common sense or consideration.

   Passions CAN be all consuming, you CAN burn all your relationships with your “community” to fuel your own ambition. Equally you CAN put your dreams aside forever. Knuckle down, get on with what you’ve become, duty over zeal. Should passion override all? Is any considerately put-aside opportunity a small death of your soul?

   If you can deal with the compromise, if you can strike the balance, then you can have the distant passion, and keep those around you safe. I suspect Terry has it right, the *AND* is the happiest of all.

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2. Quote
   Ria said September 21, 2009, 8:06 pm:

   First of all, I think all the fingers were wagging, etc. because Into Thin Air played up on the whole drama and yes, watching him talk to her on the phone knowing he would never see her again was totally heart wrenching!

   Re: Terry’s fab tweet… I read something similar a few years ago, (I think) by Wayne Muller who wrote a great book called, How Then Shall We Live (knowing we will die). He said, “At the intersection of your greatest gift and the world’s greatest need is your purpose.”

   I think I agree with your point, Jen… his passion for mountaineering was part of him. To wish him to be different doesn’t respect his True Self. Who is to judge that what happened was bad. Why does an event have to be judged as good or bad vs. what IS. Let’s take the road NOT taken… if he had NOT gone on the expedition because his wife forced him to stay home… what would have been the consequences of that choice? Would he have resented her forever? Would he have died inside anyway?

   Same thing with the Crocodile Hunter, right? Who is to say that his untimely (and what people think was unecessary) death is not what will allow his daughter to step into her place in the world.

   Random. I know. Happy Monday. Must noodle my video for Wednesday.

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3. Quote
   Lindsay said September 22, 2009, 1:47 pm:

   I like this idea too, but I struggle with it a little because I wonder if all passions lived fully do intersect in some way with the community’s needs. I don’t know the answer to that.

   I really like that Ria pointed out about Steve Irwin. It reminded me of reading his wife’s book, written after his death, which I pretty much cried my way through. But she wasn’t angry that he’d taken risks – she’d fallen in love with him because that was who he was, and although she obviously would have liked more time with him, knew that he was always following his passions.

   And what John said scares me a little – “Is any considerately put-aside opportunity a small death of your soul?” It makes me wonder what I’ve skipped over in the past because it wasn’t the “right” thing to do, or it wouldn’t make the people around me happy. What small deaths have I endured? And does putting aside any of the opportunities given to us to live our passions mean that we don’t reach them fully? What are the effects of these small deaths?

   There are regrets I have in my life, but I also have the knowledge that if I had followed those paths, I wouldn’t necessarily be where I am now either – ie had I majored in fine art in college, which was my original intention, would I have ended up working for my dad, traveling and seeing the world, something that has only fueled my love of the aesthetic and the desire to explore it more fully through artistic means? For me, it just goes back to accepting where I am today, and the choices I have made and may make in the future, as part of the path I’m supposed to be on.

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   John_DB Reply:
   September 23rd, 2009 at 6:19 am

   Yes, the eternal “what ifs”.
   The maxim ” it’s better to regret something you did, than didn’t do” applies. I wonder if it’s possible to live without regret at all? You’d have to have a very understanding support mechanism.
   I wholeheartedly agree about the person you are now being a function of those choices, and the acceptance of that.

   I take some comfort from the possibility that there are universes out there where versions of me are living alternate choices.

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   Lindsay Reply:
   September 23rd, 2009 at 7:49 am

   Interesting thought! I sometimes google my name and see what other Lindsays are doing that I’m not. Maybe those are my alternate universes

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