With responsibilities, relationships, expectations, and a version of myself that I had long outgrown, my life felt like a constant negotiation. I carried it all because I believed that perseverance meant strength, that staying meant loyalty, and that the price of passion was simply chaos. However, the weight of it all eventually dulled my days and crowded my thoughts. The hikes followed. At first, hiking was just a way to get away, a way to relieve stress, a way to swap concrete for birdsong and noise for canopy.
However, somewhere along the way, it evolved into more:
a guide, a mirror, and eventually a force for change. I felt the change early one morning on a trail as the mist clung to the trees and the world was still. I was not asked anything there. No role to play. There is no identity to defend. Just breath, rhythm, and the steady reassurance of ground underfoot. The trail only asked for my presence, so I didn’t have to show anything. That was the first sign that I was finally experiencing peace. And once you understand what peace is like, it becomes harder to justify anything that disturbs it. Something changed as a result of that realization.
I began asking difficult questions:
Why do I continue to hold on to this?
Without this pressure, who am I?
What if I stop running in circles and start walking a new path?
It wasn’t easy or clean to let go. I had once been given purpose by some of the things I let go of, like old ambitions, relationships, and even long-held dreams. They grieved me. I struggled with guilt, fear, and the empty space that comes from being detached. However, nature has a quiet way of showing you that space is not empty; rather, it is filled with potential. I got more from hiking than just strong legs and beautiful memories. Clarity came from it. It demonstrated to me that there is wisdom in moving forward without ignoring the past and strength in being still. It showed me that being alone isn’t lonely; rather, it’s a communion with the part of yourself that you’ve been too busy to hear. Every summit I’ve reached has been less about the view and more about what I left behind on the way up.
Now, I hike not only to see the world but also to remember who I am away from the noise. to live in peace. to live more lightly. Simple, profound, and lasting are the effects that hiking has had on me: It provided me with a path toward a life that brings me peace and helped me let go of everything that no longer does.
