Mackenzie Mountain Mystery: Growing with the Wild Unknown

Bask in the silence of the Mackenzie Mountains in the Northwest Territories, high above Canada. This is where the aurora bends and sways overhead in wave-like brushstrokes of green and violet.

The Mackenzies are more than silent peaks of rock and ice: they are storytellers, sharing a tale of mystery. They are mountains that keep on growing when they should be shrinking. Mountains that know that nature has no patience for other people’s rules.

The Mackenzies are geologic puzzles that our planet’s biggest rock detectives are still trying to solve, and intrepid travelers are still dreaming of conquering. But if you really listen, they have one more secret to share: the same truth that dwells inside each of us. We are also mountains: always moving, always growing, always mysterious, and always waking up.

Mountains of Rebellion

The majority of mountain ranges on our planet gently decay over centuries, surrendering each mineral grain by grain to time’s patient hand. The Mackenzies are flouting convention. Satellite measurements and aerial surveys show them continuing to grow, as if they met with gravity one day and politely declined, “No, thank you, we are going higher.”

Scientists scratch their heads over the “why” and “how.” Is it post-glacial elastic rebound, the Earth’s crust bouncing up after long-ago glaciers weighed down on it? Or perhaps delicate mantle flows are nudging the surface from below? Like the aurora, answers come and go, beautiful and elusive.

The magic of the Mackenzies comes in that stubborn refusal to back down in the face of mystery. Mountains, it turns out, can even break the rules of geology to grow.

Made of the Same Mystery

The Mackenzie Mountains are not the only mountains rewriting their own rules; we are too. Every breath, every stumble, and every small victory that is celebrated adds to the layering of our personal geology. At times, it might even seem that we are not growing at all, but in truth, we are.

We are changing, as rock faces change under the caress of wind and water, in both obvious and subtle ways. Mountains rise by many small steps, not quantum leaps. We continue our climb into the wild unknown with one more moment of courage here and one fresh perspective there.

Just as the Mackenzies hide their underlying forces, our inner landscapes do not show all of their cards at once. What invisible hands move us? What ancient knowledge rises to the surface? We may never know for certain, and perhaps this is the point.

Become the Mountain

Zen master Seung Sahn once said:

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"The mountains are calling me, and I have to go, but first I have to become the mountain."

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Standing before a mountain that will not stop growing is like standing before a mirror of eternity. It reminds us that waking up is not a destination; it is a daily dance.

In the morning, the Mackenzies shine, and their ridges sway in the sunlight like emerging ideas. As the mind holds dreams, so do the Mackenzies hold clouds. Their valleys hold water like our hearts hold emotions. The peaks of their mountains point up to heaven, as our highest hopes do.

Awakening is not about reaching the end; it is about knowing that we will never run out of new wildness to explore.

The Mystery of the Wild Unknown

The Mackenzie Mountains are unconcerned with the impatient world’s demand for things to happen quickly, the way children want; they simply rise at their own pace. They remind us that true growth is not loud but steady. That mystery is not a riddle to be solved but a song to hum.

They also remind us that we are woven into larger tapestries than we see each day. As the Mackenzies respond to deep geological rhythms, we are shaped by invisible currents of love, culture, history, and human connection. Mystery is not something external to us; it is woven into the fabric of our being.

Our Mountaintop Awaits

The Mackenzies rise and rise, still growing and carrying their mystery skyward. We are like that too. We rise with each laugh, breathe deeper as we weather storms, and reach for the light. We are all mountains: mysterious, layered, quietly rebellious, and always waking up.

These mountains will not be tamed by stagnation. They remind us how strong we are by showing us how steep their slopes are. To remember that our mysteries are not mistakes but masterpieces is to celebrate how we are growing in ways we never could have planned.

The Mackenzies are monuments to the mystery of becoming. Their lesson is simple and profound: the climb never ends, and that is the greatest miracle of all.

Cheers!

Kether

Spunky Mind

"The mountains are calling and I must go."

-John Muir

The mystery of the Mackenzie Mountains.

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