Dear reader, why do people climb mountains?

Through my writing odyssey, I’ve discovered that writing and publishing a book is a lot like climbing a mountain.

There are paths up the mountain that are so easy that I’ve found myself traveling up with as little effort as I need for a regular walk. Other times, this journey has felt like I’m reaching for a desperate handhold as I climb a sheer wall with nothing to catch me if I fall.

That brings me back to my first question though. Why do people climb mountains?

Is something at the top worth getting?

I’m not going to lie, I’d love to make money off of this project. I dream of making a living out of telling stories but there is no guarantee that there is a reward like that at the top of this mountain. I can’t say the view from the top will be worth seeing. So I can’t say that’s why I climb.

Then, why do people climb mountains? What does the climb offer in and of itself?

I think a climb offers a few things on its own.

The climb is what lets you say “I did that” when you’re finished, it gives you the experience of overcoming obstacles, it lets you look down from the top and see the view of your work in full.

Getting what the climb offers is the motivation for a lot of authors and is part of mine too.
I’m looking forward to saying I’m a ‘published author,’ I’ve enjoyed succeeding at the challenges of this climb, and I’m already high enough up the mountain that I can look over my shoulder and enjoy the view of the journey I’ve had so far.

“C.R. if you’re high enough to have almost all you could want from the climb do you plan to keep going once you have it all?”
Absolutely, and once I get to the top, I hope to start a new mountain with another book.
“Then the climb itself can’t be the reason you climb the mountain.”

If it isn’t for the climb or for what’s at the top, why do people… or why do I climb this mountain?

The true answer to this question is both very complex and very simple.

I climb these kinds of mountains because that’s what I’m supposed to do, it’s what I’ve been called to do by the Lord, and it’s what I want to do.

I don’t know the full reason why I need to make this climb but so far it’s let me learn and grow in ways I never would have if I’d done anything else with my life. It’s also helped me gain an understanding of the impossible that I so far had only scratched the surface of, and I still have more to see.

Writing books is where I’ve been called and while I may never know why climbing is right for me, I know that I climb the mountain because its what I have to do in my current season of life.

No matter what is in the way, or how much or little is at the top, I must make this climb.

There is no reason to climb the mountain, but it’s simply what we sometimes have to do. This is part of my journey and part of what it means to be me, walking on an Odd Man’s Odyssey.

Though we see it rising high,
And imagine places above the ground,
are reserved for those who fly.
There is, in my ear a summoning sound.
A voice that calls me to give it a try,
And look for what may be found
Thus I leave this earth behind
For it’s up the mountain I must climb.

The next question is what is the mountain you must climb?
~C.R. Ware

P.S. As an add on to this post please check out the section below regarding proofreading my book for a final grammar check before it goes into publishing.