Mount Kilimanjaro is the highest free-standing mountain in the world. It can be climbed successfully with minimal technical skill, but the physical and mental challenges are huge. The secret to conquering Mount Kilimanjaro is to just keep going, a maxim that applies equally when facing the trials of life, such as bereavement, heartbreak, and loneliness. Loneliness is perhaps one of the most insidious legacies of the COVID-19 pandemic. People increasingly live alone, work alone and play alone; disconnected from society through the modern cultures of home working, absolute dependence on smartphones and the ability to stream television and cinema into their living rooms on demand. These modern factors conspire to break the connections between fellow human beings, and this can render recovering from bereavement, heartbreak, and other life trials especially hard. The enforced isolation of lockdown served to strengthen and normalize human disconnection, which has arguably led to a disturbing deterioration in the nations’ mental health. Reflections from the Top of the World presents a powerful alternative philosophy of connection, mutual endeavour, and achievement. A philosophy that does not necessarily require individuals to climb the world’s largest freestanding mountain, but one that encourages reflection on the root causes of sadness and joy. The ultimate conclusion is a convincing belief that whatever life throws you, there will always be new happiness to look forward to if you just keep going.
Gerry Pye is a former RAF wing commander and chartered aeronautical engineer. After retiring from the RAF, he spent many years as an Open University associate lecturer specializing in engineering and global development management. He began writing on military history and aviation in 2000, and he became a full-time freelance writer in 2022 after a successful expedition to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. He lives in Cambridgeshire with his fiancée, Karen, and has a son, Joseph, who followed in his father’s footsteps to pursue a career in aeronautical engineering.
Customer
Reviews
1 reviews
-
This book is a moving and inspirational account of the authors participation in an expedition to climb Mount Kilimanjaro and how it helped him to overcome the grief of losing his wife to cancer and reconnect with the world. It is written as a journal that was kept on the expedition, with the second half of each chapter being the authors post-expedition thoughts, his reflections in hindsight on what he had written at the time. This was an emotional read – I cried several times! You would enjoy it if you just wanted a simple account of the trials of climbing a mountain, but more so if you are going through grief yourself and want reassurance that things will get better. In the book, the author talks about having become disconnected from friends and family, how it affected his mental health and how he found that participation in shared activities helped him reconnect with the world and ultimately find happiness again. Highly recommended!
Write a Review
