


The Art of Solitude: How to Be Alone in a World Full of People
Too often, we associate being alone with negativity. We associate being alone with loneliness, depression, brooding, etc. There is certainly truth to the fact that isolation can be negative, particularly […]

The Contemplative Life: Learning to Value Denkwerk
What happens when a society stops valuing thinking as work? What happens when commodities become more important than the people that produce them?

How Nature Makes Us Better
Dear Readers, As I continue to try to find a work life balance that works for this blog, as well as the time to keep original content coming, please check […]

Potty-mouthed Professors: Why They’re the Best
Trust me. I should know. I’m one of them. And if you are someone easily offended by foul, vulgar, profane language, this essay might not be for you. There is […]

Walking Through it All: Reviewing Ben Montgomery’s ‘Grandma Gatewood’s Walk’
In Ben Montgomery’s eye-opening profile, Grandma Gatewood’s Walk: The Inspiring Story of the Woman Who Saved the Appalachian Trail, readers encounter the real life folk heroin Emma Gatewood. On the […]

The Stories We Tell Ourselves: A Meditation on Frost’s Two Roads
(A quick note: while the gender of the speaker remains undetermined, I sometimes use the masculine for the sake of simplicity and consistency. It seems easier than having to repeatedly […]

Dirtbag Dreams: Fantasy vs Reality
(Cover Image: Fred Beckey) Virtually anyone who climbs, has ever picked up a climbing magazine, seen Reel Rock, or any YouTube video on climbing, knows the term “dirtbag”. The general […]

Nature Boys from the ‘Hood
Above timberline, with sustained winds around fifty miles per hour and gusts approaching ninety, while the temperature hovers somewhere just under thirty below, Pierre and Jon hunker down behind a […]