The Eight-Thousander Paradox
Hello intersectional thinkers 👋
Greetings from Tokyo where I watched the latest Netflix documentary 14 Peaks - Nothing is Impossible and can’t shake this quote out of my head:
“In the death zone, I come alive.” – Nirmal Purja, 14 Peaks – Nothing is Impossible
In mountaineering, the death zone refers to anything above 8,000 meters (~26,000 feet) in altitude. On Earth, there are only 14 peaks (aka Eight-Thousanders) that rise above that deadly threshold where oxygen concentration is only 1/3 what it is at sea level.
The oxygen is insufficient to sustain human life. Yet the death zone is what ambitious mountaineers live for.
Why would you live for death?
Isn’t it ironic that we work tirelessly to lead a comfortable life, only to be suffocated by that comfort, yet when we surrender that comfort, that security, we feel alive?
What are we really living for?
I don’t know the answer yet. If you know your answer, please share and help me think this through!
Love it that you're in Tokyo. Hope to be able to go there again next year.
Reminds me of a line from a song by Tears for Fears: "The dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever had" Not quite an answer for you I suppose... Another thought I heard on a Simon Sinek podcast over the weekend is: the meaning of life is to find what you love doing, the purpose of life is to give that away. The dots may need more connecting with some more thinking...