I am an extremist when it comes to vacations. Give me remote, scary, arduous ADVENTURE! Our girls have been known to say, "Mom, couldn't we go someplace our friends might even recognize?" Not surprisingly, I love to read about or watch movies about epic adventures in which the human beings overcome seemingly insurmountable odds. The stories make me feel alive on all cylinders. Looking over the brink of the chasm (either literally or vicariously) lets me see life in sharp relief against its alternative.
Joe Simpson wrote a book titled
Touching the Void. It tells the harrowing true story of him and his partner, Simon Yates, as they face disaster after a fall on an ice mountain. The book was followed by a movie in which one or both of Joe and Simon appear (do not want to give it away!). My climbing friends tell me the movie is one of the more realistic they have seen from the technical perspective. Find the book. Watch the movie. Grip the sides of your chair with your fingernails as you hold on for the ride. Peer over the edge and feel what it is to live this life out loud.
Joni from the brink
Several years ago our good friend Jeff Lawrence co-founded Communique, an online literature and arts journal. After a great start, it languished a bit while Jeff and his partners pursued other responsibilities. As of today, however, Communique is online once again. You will find provocative fiction, poetry, and literary analysis in this issue, with archived articles just a click away. Communique is always worth reading. We are glad to see it back!
