You’re darn right it is! How do I know? Because I am a rock climber. I have been actively climbing rocks and rock-like features since 1999. I consider myself a lifetime beneficiary of the therapeutic properties of rock climbing. Through the sport of rock-climbing, I have developed self-confidence, mindfulness, resilience, and an ability to conquer many of my fears on the wall and off. All of which are tools that I use daily, to ensure a lifetime of positive growth, stability, and intrapersonal success. 

If you are depressed you are living in the past.

If you are anxious you are living in the future.

If you are at peace you are living in the present.

-Lao Tzu

The quote above is one of my absolute favorites. I often wish this quote had found its way to me sooner in my life because I think it (as any great quote does) gave me clarity on something that I had observed, but never synthesized into an actual idea. There are other quotes and references that address this same concept, but this is the only one that spells out to us that depression and anxiety are both remedied by your own actions; actions that can only be taken in the present.

As we begin to settle into the new school year, I often find myself wondering how it's been almost two years since the start of the pandemic. In some ways, it feels like it's been an eternity whereas other days it seems as though it was just yesterday when the world came to a stop. And while more recently things are starting to feel like the “new normal,” and I feel like I’m able to navigate the world as I once did, I can’t help but acknowledge the universal grief that is all around us. Grief both in death and in the loss of what once was.