Big things are coming

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July 26, 2014
          Day 87

There's something extra special about Colorado that I don't think many outsiders know about. 

When you land in Denver, you're not landing anywhere near the mountains.  In fact, the airport itself feels closer to Kansas or Nebraska than it does to Denver.  It's just way, way, way out there, and the mountains are still far off in the distance.

Once you get into the Denver metro area, you still have a drive before you start getting into higher elevations, and even then, you're still in what's often referred to as the front range.  But then it happens.  Huge mountains and gorgeous vistas begin appearing before you.  Snow-capped mountains--even in the 90+ heat of July--reveal their beauty high above you in the sky. 

Like my trip into the mountains, this entire year's worth of daily blog writing is my way of moving up slowly to my 40th birthday.  I chose to go through this journey from age 39 to 40 so publicly, because for me, my life is already quite public to begin with. 

"Life is like playing a violin solo in public, and learning the instrument
 as one goes along." --Samuel Butler

I've reached many mountaintops so far in life, but I didn't publish my first book until I was 37, and my second was published after turning 38.  I hope to have the third published before I'm 40.  I was a monk for four years, and planning to be a teacher of English Literature and Theology.  (I was also planning to be celibate!)  Seventeen years now after leaving the religious order, I've built a new life for myself, including a beautiful relationship for the past 12 years, a beautiful home in a beautiful town called Malverne, and just a beautiful life filled with great friends, great travel experiences, and many great memories.  My life is absolutely beautiful...but I do still have more mountains I want to climb.

The mountains I see up ahead of me are filled with new adventures just waiting for my arrival.  I don't know what 40 will look like, or even what the rest of 39 will look like for that matter, but I know I've been blessed with a beautifully scenic road so far.  The turns in the road have often surprised me, sometimes scared me, sometimes even upset me, but more often than not, they have completely delighted me. 

The road to the mountaintops I hope to reach with my writing career, and indeed with my life as a whole, is a long one.  Sometimes, the peaks still seem too far away to ever hope to reach.  Yet I keep on driving down this road anyway, and I enjoy the scenery as I go.  Maybe I'll get there, and maybe I won't, but either way, I'm grateful for the gift of the beautiful road I'm on right now.