On Skiing and Nothingness

To read a philosophy of life based on skiing, look at this piece in today's New York Times Magazine.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/15/magazine/letter-of-recommendation-skiing.html?ref=magazine

Aleksander Hemon says he lives to ski.  He also says that Sartre mentions skiing in Being and Nothingness:

No wonder Sartre discusses skiing in “Being and Nothingness.” For my (modest, writerly) money, skiing is just about the best way of Being. Too bad climate change will probably end it. We might be in the last days of skiing, which is to say that any day not spent skiing is one step closer to Nothingness.

I would substitute the word hiking where he uses skiing.  We can all probably relate to this passion for something and insert the word of our choice.

Each day of our lives we are one step closer to non-being.  Hence the ancient maxim, "Seize the day."

Hemon plans his time around " accumulating 50 to 60 skiing days a season — which is my only real goal in this, American, life."

My own goal is to spend 50-60 days a year hiking in the Rocky Mountains, including a few hours of those days sitting at high altitude and gazing out at the peaks and valleys, feeling close to my Maker and reflecting on the brevity of human life.

The maximum I've achieved so far is maybe ten of these days per summer... So many Colorado days have to be spent maintaining a home and yard, shopping, paying bills, hosting guests, etc.--after earning a living and driving from California.