In The Know #59: Lusting for the Mountains, Hacking Paywalls & Timeless Wisdom from Rumi
Hi friends,
We’re over halfway through January, and the year already feels like it’s flying by. The biggest thing I’ve been noticing lately is that the days are slowly starting to get a little longer. The winter rains and snow finally seem to have begun in earnest across the west coast, and the rare sunny days are such a treat. Snow or sun, I hope you’re able to enjoy those special days wherever you are.
Jamie
⛷️ My all time favorite ski movie — All.I.Can
Powder season has begun, but sadly I must admit that skiing is just not a big part of my life these days. The mountains are my favorite place to be, but even though I live closer to them then I ever have before, they’re still too far to visit regularly with a baby at home. I’ve more or less acknowledged that during this season of my life it’s just not going to play a big role — that is, hopefully only until Ava is old enough to ski. But in the meantime it still feels like a piece of me is missing.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve watched this movie since it was released in 2011. Everything about it is so good — the cinematography, the music, the locations, and of course, the athletes and the lines they take. It was also the first big ski film I can remember that prominently featured ski touring, right around the time when I was getting into it myself. The song in the storm skiing segment brings me back to sitting on the couch at my parents’ place in Whistler, watching it each night after great days in the backcountry. And of course, the classic street segment featuring the late JP Auclair is always worth a watch, being one of the first segments to ever really go viral with non-skiers. I have so many good memories from this film, and I hope you find the time to enjoy it at some point this winter too.
🏡 Poem that made me think deeply about my life — The Guest House, by Rumi (translation by Coleman Barks in The Essential Rumi)
This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
As an unexpected visitor.Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing and invite them in.Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.
🧐 Best way to get around paywalls for online publications — Archive.is
Archive.is is an archive of the internet, and almost all paid publications I’ve searched for are accessible on it for free. Just copy and paste the link of the paywalled article you’d like to read in the lower (black) search box, and voila! For best results, if there’s a long string of characters in the URL after the main link address (often used for attribution tracking), delete it and just search the core URL.
🤔 Quote of the week — “It’s your road, and yours alone. Others may walk it with you, but no one can walk it for you.” ~Rumi