Books

Soul and Inspiration: the story of women who climb 20,000-foot mountains in Bolivia and a movie about a thrilling runner

Published: Jun 14, 2022
Category: Self Help

In my review of Thich Nhat Hanh’s book, Being Peace, I wrote about the stressors we’re all facing and my personal issues that make them more important to confront. My piece ended with “Fingers crossed for me… and for us all.” That produced an unusual response. Five concerned readers wrote to ask if I’m ok. Two mental health professionals invited me to call them. Several friends shared their own troubles: “I’ve been to the ER. But not for anything as serious as three of my friends, who went to the ER for what they thought were impending heart attacks but turned out to be palpitations and panic.”

My doctor told me that you experience your lowest, most anxious moments of the day when you wake up, so the first few minutes of my day are a race: I want to lace up my Allbirds and get to the rubberized track two blocks from my apartment before sadness attacks. There I walk 6-8,000 steps. This week, for the first time in this century, I jogged a bit. Each day I’m adding another 300 or so yards. Baby steps, but definitely steps.

It is no revelation that walking outdoors is as good for your mental health as your cardio fitness. It’s also good to have some cultural inspiration as well.

My first suggestion: a movie directed by Bob Towne (who wrote “Chinatown”) and starring Billy Crudup. Without Limits is the story of Steve Prefontaine, the Oregon runner who reinvented the mile — as a sprint. “Without Limits” is as seductive as Prefontaine himself — and as motivating. It can make the lame throw off their crutches, the faint of heart leap for the sky. See it, and believe.

The Cholita Climbers are equally amazing. These 11 women — the youngest was 23, the oldest 52 — set out to climb Huayna Potosí, a peak in Bolivia that tops out at 19,974 feet. They wore their traditional wide, puffy skirts and plaited hair. Their one concession: helmets instead of high bowler hats. All eleven summitted.
In 2019, five Cholitas — Lidia Huayllas, Dora Magueño, Analía Gonzáles, Elena Quispe and Cecilia Llusco — climbed Aconcagua (22,841 feet), the tallest peak in South America. They’re now thinking about Everest.

Read the piece. And watch the video. Again, a shot of inspiration.

We can’t do anything about SCOTUS, Wall Street, Ukraine, the evaporating Great Salt Lake and all the other bad news I’ve forgotten. But we can do everything possible to get to the other side of now.

Fingers crossed… for all of us.