#009 Notes From Masters
It was sophomore year of high school. I was sitting at my requisite unofficial-official spot in 2nd period economics class, peering out of the window as the mid-morning sun slipped through the slats of blinds. It was the odd uneven time of the year when the seasons overlap before taking up permanent change. The bright light signaling for bare skin, yet one sharp breath in and reality reveals itself to be pungent and icy. I’d taken to only using my sense of vision to placate me. Physically, I was present for roll-call. Mentally, I was someplace far far away.
Sherpas.
Sherpas were on my mind.
Ever since I had learned of their existence I could think not of supply and demand, but rather of how the sub-zero temperatures of the vast mountains in Nepal were felt at this exact moment and if the sun gave these faces any respite.
Sherpas are the guardian guides of the Himalayas; hired to navigate glaciers, schlep vast loads up mountains sides, negotiate treacherous crevasses and even heat noodles for foreign climbers….all in efforts to summit one of humankind’s most notorious feats: Mount Everest.
(side note: y’all I can’t even stomach the Expedition Everest roller coaster as Disney World’s Epcot, so the idea of voluntarily hiking the real-life thing that has such a deadly track record and more failures than successes is wild to me)
Over their lifetime Sherpas will spend months leading various souls through the trek. The climb is a spiritual pursuit in itself and I quickly became enamored with the life lessons/answers as well as the intense emotional/physical resilience and fortitude sherpas surely had to have.
A professional helper, boy oh boy are they really that easy to find?
I’ve always believed we are divinely guided, for how else do we explain certain serendipities and/or hardships?! I often google the spiritual significance of a hummingbird sighting, or look for answers to indicators in my dreams, and I’m far too deep into the world of astrology to ever return (happy Total Solar Eclipse in Sagittarius babes - can’t wait for Jupiter in Pisces season!)
I do not know everything - nor do I pretend to. As I’ve fumbled, thrived, fallen and risen in finding my footing in this existence (also known as adulting), I’ve come to identify my very own sherpas in various aspects of life.
And because I love you - I’m sharing my greatest teachers with you.
The age-old universal tale is true: when the student is ready, the teacher will appear. I have found these guides during seasons of my life that made them a necessity - some by chance, some by internet wormholes, others by deliberate search. They continue to usher me forward on my journey no matter what point I am at so that I can keep steady on the inclines, not get complacent in the valleys and continue to seek higher and higher peaks after comfortably taking in the victory views of a summit.
Happy adventuring dudes and dudettes and non binary loves.
Disclaimer: This is what works for me based on what I want out of life and choose to prioritize. There are infinite avenues I’ve yet to explore, and I welcome your comments of your own personal sherpas!
All links can be found at my newsletter linked here:
