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Finding The Sky Perhaps any realm, in which we challenge ourselves, beyond the boundaries of what we know, can become a paradigm for our lives in general. When you have the nerve to forgo security in pursuit of the sublime, because the sublime will not come to you, one has to go out and meet it where it lives, and that can lead out toward the edge. When I view soaring through this lens, I see it not as an adrenaline sport but as a vehicle for exploration, a means of growth, practice for living our lives. A chance to experience and learn from the frustration and satisfaction, doubt and confidence, fear and courage, disappointment and joy that comes with soaring flight. The thoughtful pilot is not an excitement junkie, but someone pursuing the challenges and rewards available only outside the comfortable confines of the mundane. In the end, the experience of soaring flight is so utterly unlike anything else that there’s no reference for it except in dreams. And, just as language is never really equal to the task of conveying a dream, it falls short here as well, as it must. If we could simply experience a thing through the retelling of it, we might never leave our kitchen tables. In a sense, then, it’s fortunate that I cannot give you the quiet satisfaction of turning circles high in a blue sky among giant white cumulus clouds, knowing that it is a privilege just being there, or sharing thermals with beautifully marked soaring birds. I cannot give you the serene wonder of floating out over some mountain valley watching the sun set over the pastoral farmlands below. We can only tell each other such things are possible. Excerpts from Paul Villinski article in Hang Gliding Magazine
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