The Shadowy Mountain Report

A revelation.

     I saw it, there! Atop the Mountain of Ordeals, beaming bright, a light so intense that it carried the blue of the hopeful sky on its shoulders. Finally, after the arduous climb, the climb of the ages that sought to break me, to break my life…I am here upon the peak, standing before the goal of life, conquered. The core of the light called to me, whispers among the wind. It is mine, at long last. I reached out and grasped it.

     The blue of the sky extinguished in my grasp, and as I held it to my bosom, I opened my hand to look at it. There…was a light. And, past the gaps in my fingers, I saw the truth of things. The ground of the mountain top, upon which I stood was a forge of ghastly faces, familiar faces. I turned around to see the world that I had left behind, the world that I had created in my pursuits of life, and I stood at its peak…grasping to nothing but what I deemed best. The truth.

     It was not what I thought it would be.

     I could see all those I touched in my quest. Those mean-well’s I used to get where I am, left behind as I shrugged them away like useless baggage. Lost, writhing, wailing. Some lost to their own devices, helped along by me as I took what I thought I needed from them. Some writhing from the pain I caused them as I stepped on their toes, their backs, their lives. And, all of them…every single one of them wailing at some point, due to the loss they’ve suffered at the hands of my ascent to the top.

     What have I done?!

     I have seen the Shadowy Mountain, it is the metaphorical Landmark I have mistakenly constructed to succeed me when I have passed on from this planet, Earth. It is an image of the unseen-me that exists in the minds of those I've hurt, an image only the mind’s eye can see...The Shadowy Mountain is a type of darkness that I created through being the self-indulgent, duplicitous degenerate from age 19 to 33. Through all the people that remember catching me in a lie, that remember seeing me ruin someone else’s day, that remember experiencing just how awful I could be. The Shadowy Mountain is a blight upon this Good green Earth, effecting the existence of everyone who had the misfortune of meeting me in those dark times…and I never wanted that for any of you…I never wanted that for this world.

     I've done a lot of shady things in my life, and hurt many, as all those around me now know…as I've come clean over the last couple of years. In coming clean, and in getting clean, I’m doing what I can to erase the Shadowy Mountain from existence before I bite the dust, but there is only so much I can do. The rest lay in the faith that those whom I’ve crossed can forgive…or forget.

     I’m also working on creating Goodness where ever I can by keeping my word (so that means not promising anything, and just doing what I can with overcoming the occasional obstacle), and sticking to following my dreams of writing books (instead of helping others build their dreams [sound’s selfish, I know, but trust me, there’s another page of life lesson that I will not bore you with]). I’ve learned that if I build my dream Well and filled with Goodness, then it will Shine with Light. A beacon to some (lost on their own Shadowy Mountain), while being a source of inspiration to others. If my Shadowy Mountain still remains after I am gone, then it will without a doubt continue to spread its darkness in one way or another. When I'm gone, metaphorically speaking, I think that if the Dream I Create is like a Shining Light, then it will do more for the world in my absence, erasing the darkness I haphazardly created.

     Gandhi said, “If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change.”

Well, I’m putting that to the test, and have made some serious lifestyle changes and, to help further my effort, I produced this story. I hope that it touches enough minds to fan the spark needed to change the tendencies of the world. Lofty, idealistic, crazy, arrogant, but it’s the only way I, personally know how to help this crazy world of mine. At its core, this story is about the Creative Process, its Hurdles and, should you stay the course no matter what, its Eventual Outcome. All rolled into a 99,000-word Fantasy Adventure.

     This book, and its principles are the legacy I wish to leave behind. When it all comes down to it, I just wish to leave the gift of a better experience for those who come after in life. To me, the Afterlife is for the living, and them alone. My family is scattered to the winds, and I have no children…and I have so much to pass on. This book, it is one of the most important things in my small life and, now, I wish to share it with all of you.

     There are 3 kinds of creators, even amongst us lowly mortals.

1.)    Those who create because they can. We call them engineers, but not everyone who creates this way has a degree for engineering. Some just don’t know that’s what they are, and they flip burgers, or shuffle papers, or work as grunt tradesman…but all of them, on their free time, create by drafting something in one form or another: a sketch, a page of fictitious thoughts, or anything else their intuitive imagination can conjure.

2.)    Those who create to maintain a status quo. We call them by many names: the corporate juggernaut, the authority figures of war and peace, and most importantly, but not negatively, Mom, Dad, and many other good-willed shepherds. When there remain those of us who fail to understand a greater risk at hand, either afar or staring us in the face, there will always be a need for a creator who can restore balance after our ignorance muddles things up.

3.)    Those who create to promote change. Another caste, albeit small, by many names: Hero to some, villain to others, known to all, or known by none. Some driven in pursuit of a greater good, some driven mad through being blocked by those who lack vision. All of them, sparked ablaze when they finally understood an answer to a perceived problem at hand. A reachable, completable solution, and everything that is needed is within their sphere of influence. There is no stopping this creator until they are victoriously done, or unfortunately dead.

 

     Any of these 3 can become one, or the other, at any point within the span of a single lifetime. I give this to you as both hope and a warning.

     For all of you out there who feel locked away in a prison because nobody can understand what you’re saying…nobody can understand what you’re asking…when all the words they have fall around you in a meaningless heap…write, just write. In this world of ours, where people get offended in misunderstanding, and we feel even more alone under their seeming unwillingness to listen…write, just write. In this world of ours, where kids think the only way to be heard, after being unheard for so long, is to shoot other kids…to you, the lonely one, write, just write. Show them your world with irrefutable words, and share it, share it with everyone! Make them listen in the only way that truly changes the world in a better way…the only way for others to see who you are inside is to write it out, just write. Bring that part of you into the world through a written testament, as I have, with A Book of Creation. This is my testament, my dream. Please, let something good come of this.

     If you don’t have the right words, find them. I don’t know how many nights I spent looking on Dictionary.com for the right word. The same goes for Thesaurus.com. And, Encyclopedia Britannica beats that wiki-stuff any day of the week! The thing is, the more words I learned, the writing became secondary…because I started to understand the words in those “meaningless heaps,” I started to understand that I was not the misunderstood one…but instead, it was I who misunderstood. And, so I wrote. No longer to get anyone else to see me, but to get myself to see The World for as it truly stood. And then, I twisted it. I changed all the names of the people in my life, I turned cities into forests, countries into worlds, influences into deities, but my goal remained the same: to bring out from within myself a universe of possibilities, both fantastically imagined, and practically real. And, among it all, I found the very answer I was screaming to high heaven looking for: There certainly is a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. It all does happen for a reason, it’s just not a reason coherent to an empty mind. That’s where faith in the written word comes in. So, write…and when you don’t have the right word, find it! And do not rest until you do, for it is the written word that will free you. Find yourself and find your message…it’s waiting for you.

A Book of Creation is available on Amazon, here: https://www.amazon.com/Book-Creation-Gregory-James-Gardner/dp/0692105409/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1524508182&sr=1-4&keywords=a+book+of+creation