A Shaky Wing

Mount Everest.  Photo property of Mountain7.com

Ah, Mt. Everest. You know the facts: It's 29,000+ ft. above sea-level, making it the tallest mountain in the world, which I guess also makes it the fattest mountain...? But that's not important. Summiting this mountain is a feat that few people can claim, and only a sum of that group can actually claim to have survived the entire journey. Each step closer to the peak is one step closer to death. Climbing Everest is a dark, treacherous, and hardly enjoyable expedition. No, my next adventure is not to summit Mt. Everest. But this monster mountain is the setting for today's post's inspiration...

Erik Weihenmayer. Perhaps you've heard of him? No? Well, I can't say I'm ashamed of you. It was only a few days ago that I actually learned his name. His accomplishment is definitely easier to remember than his name, I promise. Erik Weihenmayer summited Mt. Everest in 2001. Erik Weihenmayer is blind. 

Erik Weihenmayer on Everest. Photo courtesy of primetime.unrealitytv.co.uk

Have you digested that yet? What a remarkable feat. Too survive such a grueling excursion, without the aid of sight, a basic sense; How could you not be inspired? I'm afraid I'm a little speechless myself at the moment, I guess I'll just let Mr. Weihenmayer's accomplishment speak for itself.

Erik Weihenmayer is an adventurer, to say the very least. (Now brace yourself for one heck-of-a-stretch-transition) You are too. Have I not established that yet in every blogpost? The opportunities for adventure surround you every day. You may be on a fair amount of expeditions now. Are you an adventurer? You bet. Do we, like Erik Weihenmayer, have our handicaps? Certainly. I know I do...

It was in 6th Grade, and I stood in the front of the class to read them my well-researched paper. After the opening sentence, the classroom started laughing. Which would have been alright, had my paper been humorous. I was so confused. I put down my paper, and asked why everyone was laughing, hoping that I had simply missed out on something funny (someone made a funny face, their fly was down, or maybe some kid broke wind).  But no, they were laughing at me. Turns out my hands were shaking, and shaking bad enough to draw attention. I shrugged it off, told them it was nothing, and kept reading. But to my surprise, my hands WERE shaking, and not so subtly. I went home, told my mom what had happened, and it was clear that she knew all to well what I was experiencing.

My hands shake, almost constantly, and they shake pretty bad. I've grown up with it, as has my mother, and her mother as well. It definitely has not been easy having "unsteady" hands... People constantly asking if I'm OK, spilling water on myself at restaurants, the list goes on and on. But when you're a kid who just loves to draw, and your hands can barely manage a straight line? It's hard. I have always loved to draw, ever since I was a kid. Around 5th-7th Grade I realized that I had a talent for it, but my hands held me back, somewhat. I told myself that someone with hands like mine, hands that don't function properly, could never make art. But with the great help from family and friends, I kept pushing. I kept drawing. I fought past my grandpa hands, (ha!) and I established my talent. A day has not gone by that I have not drawn.

And today? I still draw everyday. I do several art-commissions, for people all across the USA. I have completed thousands of personal art-projects. I feel like I have a promising future as an animator. And yes, my hands still shake. I may not have summited the highest-peak, but I worked past what was my greatest enemy. I would not let my hands defeat me. Now, my hands are working for me. And in that fact, I am an adventurer.

Keep your goggles clean and your compass steady... Make today an adventure.