Call Of The Void
Those of you who know me will know that I have a love affair with climbing mountains. I can’t actually remember when it began, but it has been gathering momentum over the past few years since my son & I set up a Facebook group called ‘Aiming High’.
We set up the group initially to meet other like-minded people & families who enjoyed climbing mountains, so that we could all do it together and have fun! Now there are lots of people in the group, and we share stories & photos of mountains we’ve all climbed, and bush walks we’ve done – so it’s a great way to get inspiration and try new paths/climbs that others recommended.
My eldest son seemed to drift away into his own world for a few mins, and I thought he was just enjoying the view…
Earlier this year we took a family trip to the Hawkes Bay, and had Te Mata Peak on our radar to climb. The day dawned beautiful and sunny, and it was a glorious day to ‘bag’ the peak (an old Scottish term for ticking off a mountain that you have climbed).
When we were up the top my eldest son seemed to drift away into his own world for a few mins, and I thought he was just enjoying the view. Later that afternoon, once we had come back down and returned to where we were staying he asked me if I had ever heard of the ‘Call of the Void’.
He had searched it up when we got home, because he felt a strange feeling up the top of the mountain. A feeling he described as loving being up high, but simultaneously feeling nervous & scared. It’s a common feeling apparently, experienced enough that studies have been devoted to understanding it.
In 2012, Jennifer Hames led a study at the Department of Psychology at Florida State University on the Call of the Void. She called it “the high place phenomenon,” and ultimately said that the call of the void is potentially the mind’s weird (and seemingly paradoxical) way of appreciating life.
I now think of the Call of the Void when we are at the top of a mountain, take a deep breath in and appreciate being alive.
– Ree Xx
