The Weight of the Summit

There is a silence that belongs only to the high places. It is not the absence of sound, but a pressure against the eardrums, a reminder that the air is thinning. We climb because we want to see the world from a distance, hoping that if we go high enough, the clutter of our lives will resolve into something orderly. We seek the peak as if it were a final answer, a place where the wind finally stops its restless searching. But the mountain does not care for our arrival. It stands in its own time, indifferent to the heat of our lungs or the ambition of our boots. We are merely passing through its shadow, temporary guests in a landscape that has existed long before we learned to name it. When we finally reach the top, we find only more horizon. What do we do when the view is not enough to quiet the mind?

Subramaniam K V has captured this stillness in his image titled A Breathtaking View. Does the mountain look back at you, or are you only looking at yourself?