Prompt 76 - Mt. Everest - "Journeys" - spikespetslayer - OC

[dedra.livejournal.com]

Title: Journeys
Fandom/Pairing: None
Warnings: None
Rating: G
Summary: It was a costly lesson, but one that I cherish.



I heard a tale about a wise man that lived at the top of the mountains near Mt. Everest. It was rumored that he knew the answers to the universal questions and the secrets to a happy life and I needed those answers so desperately that I sold all my possessions, obtained a passport, and departed for his location at the greatest speed possible.

It was my own heartbreak that drove me to such a desperate act. As hindsight is always twenty-twenty, I see now that I should have tried to discover those answers myself, sought the secrets in other less mysterious and arcane places. The mind, however, cannot and will not override the heart when it comes to pain, no matter how fluently it speaks or how much sense it makes. I had a need, a burning desire that could not be fulfilled with a self-help book or a counselor. I wanted peace for my soul and if he knew how I could find it, then by God and all the money I could throw at it, I would find it.

I had plenty of time to think on the international flight that took me to the outreaches of the world. Flung far from all that I have ever known, I had no regret in leaving my life and career behind; I had nothing left to hold me to that place in my life and a career could be had anywhere for someone with my imagination and training.

With all that I owned in a small backpack, I headed into the mountains, seeking the wise man and his words that would bring my life back to balance.

The natives were helpful as they could be for someone that could not begin to make themselves understood. Their friendly smiles and gestures of kindness were not lost on me, although their words were gibberish to my ears. They provided me with food and directions written on tanned hides with tarred brushes, enough to get me to my next phase of the journey. It surprised me, to say the least. I had left a country that was so rich in resources where the populace was selfish to the extreme and journeyed to a country where there was little else but hardship and harsh weather. Still, they made me feel welcome and wanted, selflessly giving of their meager supplies and warming me in their dwellings when the snow and ice would overcome me.

Weeks passed as I traveled on foot, walking mile after mile with only determination and compulsion to inspire me to continue. I was tired and dirty, but still I pressed onward, hoping to find someone who spoke English well enough to hire as a guide for the rest of my journey. Winter had come full on with a vengeance and my insulated coat had seen much better days; traded for a fur-lined handmade parka, it was probably one of the smarter things that I gave up.

I never did find a guide, but I did happen across the old man. He lived high in the foothills in a drafty hut, wrapped in robes and smiling at me as I ducked through the door. We couldn’t speak a word to one another; neither one of us knew the other’s language, but we were able to communicate without words.

Peace. Peace filled his face and every graceful movement that he made, whether it was going outside to relieve himself or stirring the stew that replenished itself almost magically. There was no wasted motion in his slight form as he went about his life; it was minimalism personified.

I came to him searching for the secrets to happiness. I traveled this distance looking for a balm to ease the wounds of a world-weary heart, a poultice for a soul that had been bought and sold more times than I could count.

In this simple hut, with this simple man, I found so much more than I sought.

I spent a month with him. By the time that it was over, as I packed up my meager belongings and hunted for my return ticket to the United States, I had found the placid existence that I had looked for, although not in the way that I thought.

I wanted someone to make it simple and easy for me. Like most of my culture, I thought that the answers were something that could be communicated with words and phrases easily. I believed them to be secrets that he would pass to me after great trials and journeys to reach him.

I found my answers. The answers didn’t come in a sweetly spoken beatitude or a parable of other wise men, but they were there all the same. They were within my heart as I walked over hill and dale to the goal I had set—the old man. They echoed in my ears when I found myself alone in a foreign country without ways or means to ease the path. They shined brightly in the faces that I had seen all the way here, even inside this front door.

As I shouldered my pack to leave, he stopped me with a hand laid gently on my shoulder. In halting English, he said, “You…now…see?”

He didn’t need to explain the question. It was a question that I had myself. Did I see now? “Yes, I now see.”

I did. The paths, the road, the secrets were within myself all the time. Like Dorothy, I had to discover the truth for myself and not have some magical creature point it out to me.

I can try until I’m old and wrinkled, but I can never explain what I learned on that journey. Again, the words are inadequate to explain the joy there is in simplicity, the happiness that can be found without looking for gratification and expecting everything to be perfect. Life itself is not perfect by any means, but finding it out for yourself is a priceless education that can never be duplicated or conveyed.

Did I learn the secret? Oh, yes. I learned and I use it daily to make my life more meaningful.

Will I share it? I can’t. It is something you must learn for yourself. Whether it’s on a journey or just alone in quiet meditation, you have to find the answers within your own heart. That’s where they live and they will stay hidden until you look for yourself.

It was a costly lesson, but one that I cherish.

Comments

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

A good flow to this piece... Very nicely done!