Making the Climb

My sister and I visited Atlantic City over Memorial Day weekend. That vacation held a lot of firsts for me. So many, in fact, that I won't bore you by naming them all. But one of those firsts was climbing a lighthouse, the Absecon Lighthouse, which is the third tallest lighthouse in the U.S.

To get to the top, we had to climb 228 steps, which the Lightkeeper told us compares to approximately 17 stories of a modern building. That's tall. And I have this fear. Not so much of heights, but of falling from said heights. For someone like me this is completely rational. Trust me.

I don't know how long the climb took, but it felt a lot longer than it probably was. There was more than one point during the climb that I thought I wouldn't make it and I wanted to turn and flee down the stairs as quickly as was safely possible. But I didn't, and the climb was totally worth it once I got to the top... and I was at complete ease at the top - proof below!

I think there are a lot of journeys in life that are similar to the climbing of that lighthouse. This includes writing. We all start at the bottom, and we have to learn and climb our way up. I also think that's the reason why I fall into slumps with my writing where I don't write much for weeks at a time. Fear.

So this is my goal from now on. To climb.

Yeah, it's scary, but the view from the top will be worth it. And it might take a long, long time, but that's okay. I might not even end up as high up as I wanted to get, and that's okay too. I'll count the successes no matter how large or small. Because at least in the end, I'll be able to say that I did it. I faced my fear and I climbed.