My Go-To Metaphor

Posted in writingTagged , , , , ,

“One climbs, one sees. One descends, one sees no longer, but one has seen. There is an art in conducting oneself in lower regions by memory of what one has seen higher up. When one can no longer see, one can at least still know.” – Rene Daumal

This was originally posted on another blog on 7/19/2023 and I’m republishing here to consolidate. Heads up – you may have already read this.

I recently had one of those weeks. You know the kind I mean? The ones where you have to dig extra deep to stay focused and get everything done but there’s a payoff at the end? Like the week before vacation where you have to get your work projects in order, home projects in order, buy extra food for the cat sitter, set the watering system, and pack all the while still feeding, watering, and caring for yourself and your family.

So, during this particular week I kept coming back to my go-to metaphor for life: mountain climbing. That’s the one that sticks for me even though I haven’t climbed a proper mountain in ten years.

One step at a time: For any mountain that I’ve climbed, there is a moment in the parking lot that I look up at the summit, or what I can see of it from the base, and doubt that I have any chance of reaching that point in two or three days time. The mountain looks massive and my stride looks incomparably small. But seeing the task ahead of me, I shoulder my pack, and start one step at a time.

Rest breaks: The first time I climbed a mountain it was with a guide named Jason. For every hour we climbed, we took a 10 minute rest break and he would lie down on the breaks. He had a simple philosophy: Why stand when you can sit and why sit when you can lie down? He was a master of not only making sure we stopped to care for ourselves, but also capitalizing on that time.

Team work: On the higher reaches of most mountains we rope up in teams of five or so, with about 30 feet of rope between each climber so that if someone falls, the rest of the team can dig into the snow with their ice axes. This method either keeps them from falling very far, or serves an anchor to pull the climber out if they’ve fallen into a crevasse. Is there a better metaphor for remembering that others are there to help us?

Self-care tricks: When you stop to rest, especially during the pre-dawn hours, the sweat instantly freezes on your skin and you get really cold, really quick. So the trick is to have your parka handy. And here’s the key, you load your parka pockets with yummy snacks so that when you put it on, it’s like one-stop shopping. By yummy snacks, I mean trail mix with candy mixed in or your favorite nuts, not protein bars that are going to look, feel and chew like leather. Because when you’re so incredibly tired that feeding yourself feels like a chore, it has to be appetizing and handy.

Set a turn-around time: The idea of a turn-around time makes me think of the guide Rob Hall who died on Everest in 1996. He was so focused on getting his client to the top that he ignored the time he had told his team they would turn-around no matter whether they’d summitted or not. While the consequences are usually not nearly as dire, there is often a similar limit in life, whether it be bedtime or the time you have to leave for the airport. There’s a moment where you just have to stop what you are doing and call it good.

The slide down: One of my favorite mountains to climb is Mt. Adams in Washington State. We leave our camp in the middle of the night to head for the summit. About 20 minutes out of camp there’s a 50-degree slope that takes hours to tackle. But what takes about five hours to climb only takes 45 minutes to slide down on our butts for one of the best payoffs ever.

So that’s my metaphor for life – climbing. I haven’t even touched on false summits, the rest step, and the pressure breath. When I’m tackling something hard, it works for me to envision the components that will get me through: put one step in front of the other, take regular rest breaks, rely on my teammates, make it easy to take care of oneself when things are hard, set a limit for when you have to stop and then enjoy the payoff.

What’s your go-to metaphor?

You can find me on Instagram @wynneleon and LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wynneleon/

I co-host a storytelling podcast featuring authors and artists with the amazing Vicki Atkinson. To tune in, search for Sharing the Heart of the Matter on Spotify, Apple, Amazon Music or Pocketcasts (and subscribe) or click here. Or the YouTube channel features videos of our interviews. Please subscribe!

My other projects include work as a CEO (Chief Encouragement Officer), speaking about creativity and AI through the Chicago Writer’s Association, and my book about my journey to find what fueled my dad’s indelible spark and twinkle can be found on Amazon: Finding My Father’s Faith.

77 thoughts on “My Go-To Metaphor”

  2. Excellent! I love to hear about your climbing adventures and these analogies/lessons make sense even for a non climber like me.

    I would say my “go-to” analogy is football. Many life situations can be compared to situations in a football game-at least in my mind 😁.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. That’s a great one, Todd. Even though I’m not much of a football person, I can think of so many great ones. Like what to do when it’s 4th down with inches to go! Not sure I said that right but you know what I mean… 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  3. I must say that I was quite taken with guide Jason’s philosophy! It’s one I find myself using in my “later years”! I’d say my metaphor for life comes from running: open the door, put one foot in front of the other, and enjoy it all. 😊

    Liked by 2 people

  4. Ever since ‘diaperhood’ my go-to metaphor has been embracing Mother Nature’s wonders, climbing among her mountain cathedrals as you have Wynne, and wandering through her wilderness forest expanses.

    Now in ‘dufferhood’ I’m still blessed to do so, albeit with tad slower strides on tad lower mountains 😊

    Perhaps my alter-ego John Muir summed it up best . . .”In every walk in nature one receives more than he seeks.”

    Keep climbing, exploring and wandering with your two little hikers lady, and . .

    Keep Looking Up ^ . . . His Best is Yet to Come!

    Liked by 2 people

  5. I love your metaphor…it’s very inclusive, metaphorically, for we who will never be actual “climbers” as you are. The nudges are perfect. Especially about the ‘rest breaks’. I’m finding that’s where perspective sits for me…if I slow down to sit with it and invite it in. xo! 🥰💕🥰

    Liked by 2 people

  8. Your metaphor is a sound one, you’ve explained it well. Mine might be a merry-go-round. There is movement as the horse goes up and down while you meander around in a circle. You can either choose to complain about the pace and repetitiveness OR you can look around you as you go around, see what you see, and enjoy the experience. Of course the music could be annoying, so this might not be a perfectly thought out metaphor. 🤔

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Oooh, I like it, Ally! Some of the merry go rounds I’ve ridden have the brass ring you can reach for every now and again — that’s a good part of the metaphor too! Good one!

      Liked by 1 person

  10. I absolutely love every word of this approach to conquering a mountain climb as well as anything in life. I have decided to tackle big or things I think to be unpleasant projects one piece at a time, rather then not do them at all due to a sense of dread and use the avoidance approach. it makes the whole thing much better, it’s usually not as bad as I imagined it to be, and I can tackle most anything. if it doesn’t go as planned, so be it.

    Liked by 1 person

  11. Your metaphor is wonderful and serves as a wonderful idea. I suppose, historically, my metaphor was always facing what I feared. Of course, I never took on a mountain, but stood up for other things in the peopled world — other people.

    Liked by 1 person

  13. “There’s a moment where you just have to stop what you are doing and call it good.” I love this, yet our society conditions us to believe that giving up is failure, and failure is bad. But we learn more from our failures than our successes and ultimately it’s the learning that matters.

    Liked by 2 people

  14. Thank you for sharing your climbing metaphor. Our family uses a swimming metaphor, of course.
    “You’re under the flags,” is something we’d tell our kids when they were close to finishing a project. A short course pool has flags five feet from the end of the pool. In a race, to be under the flags means you’re almost at the end of the race. Time to keep your head down and kick!

    Liked by 1 person

      1. Thank you for reminding me of staying in your lane! Another swim saying we used was that you can only control what in your own lane — not who is swimming in the lane next to you. That came in handy when my daughter was in college and found Missy Franklin or other Olympians in the lane next to her 😅

        Liked by 1 person

  15. Great post, Wynne. Absolutely love this “key, you load your parka pockets with yummy snacks”. The twofold comfort is so important! Not enough extra brain cells to propose another metaphor. But my dad is feeling a little better and that’s key.

    Liked by 1 person

  18. Love the climbing metaphor for life. Though my backpacking days are done, there is something huge about completing a hard task.

    Liked by 1 person

  20. I always love and appreciate your climbing stories, Wynne, and this was wonderful to read again. They are such a great metaphor for life, teamwork, digging in and climbing out of the crevasses we may fall into. 💕

    Liked by 1 person

  22. I love this metaphor for life! The way you break down mountain climbing into lessons on perseverance, teamwork, and self-care makes so much sense. That reminder to take it one step at a time, lean on others, and actually enjoy the payoff at the end really hits home. Great post! 🙏

    Liked by 1 person

  23. I don’t know that I have a go-to metaphor, but I love the idea of a slide down! And, speaking of metaphors, I’m reminded of my high school English teacher’s favorite question: “What’s a metaphor?” Answer: “A cow!” A groaner of a bad pun.

    Liked by 1 person

    2. I’m sorry about it, Wynne. My niece was disturbing that day, and instead of being annoyed, I let her comment by my guidance. I hope it’s okay.

      Like

  25. Truly a beautiful metaphor and writing. Amazing how you have traversed that mountain. We just watched Everest for the first time and were so struck by the fact that he died by stretching fate! Great message!!💕

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Oh, I loved that you watched that movie. Yes, Rob’s death was so heartbreaking and also so understandable. The fact that Doug was a mailman from Seattle and Scott Fischer was a Seattle icon as well made it hit really hard here. Thanks for the comment, Cindy!

      Liked by 1 person

  26. Rest breaks – those are so important! And, I’m in need of the reminder. So, thanks, Wynne!

    It’s not really a metaphor, but I often think of the phrase “each day has enough trouble of its own” as a reminder not to get ahead of myself concerned about the future or down on myself thinking about the past. I also like the phrase (which might be a bit more metaphorical) “each day is a gift, that’s why it’s called the present”.

    Liked by 1 person

  30. Pingback: Life’s a Fairground – malcolmsmusings.org

Comments are closed.