Pause please

This year has been good to me. Looking back on my first blog posts and hopes for 2011, I’d say it has been what I had hoped it would be. I have adventured, spent time in the wilderness, stayed away from media, and my soul feels revived.

I climbed in Yosemite, Moab, Red Rocks, Colorado, Flagstaff, San Diego, Joshua Tree, Zion, North Carolina, West Virginia, Alabama, and all over Utah. I have read a number of great books (namely Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry, The Monkey Wrench Gang by Edward Abbey, and The Life of Pi by Yann Martel). I have had lots of time with family and friends. I went home four times this year, usually for two weeks at a time, and had several visits by my family here out West. I ended up with something of a dream job, and I can live anywhere doing it.

Now I am living in a really beautiful place with lots of life. Walking out my door I can be in the mountains or downtown in 10 minutes. I can walk or bike to the Flatirons, and Eldorado Canyon is a 10 minute drive.

A lot has happened this last year. Even still, no matter how fast I seem to go or or how much I do, I so often am overwhelmed by the feeling of time moving along far too quickly. Is it really almost 2012? Am I really 29, going on 30??I find myself feeling behind in life and wondering “where is the damn pause button!!” It’s absolutely frightening.

What's clear to me is the importance of being present in my "now". I don't want to miss out on the time and things that I do have because of longing for what isn't or hoping for a pause button.

My friend and housemate, Julia, on a hike just up our street