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Feelings on the hills for mental health

Re: Feelings on the hills for mental health

Postby jmarkb » Thu Aug 27, 2020 7:50 pm

Moriarty wrote:
DavidShepherd wrote:No boring munros, only boring people...rubbish. There are definitely boring munros. Carn Sgulain being one!.


You're wrong. There are no boring hills, there are just hills you find boring. There are plenty others who will find things that fill them up with happiness and interest on all of them, even if you can't see it.


Personally I find the "only boring people" argument a bit too simplistic. Strictly speaking, yes, boredom is the mind of the beholder, and not an intrinsic property of the hill. Nonetheless, statistically speaking, some hills are more likely to induce the sensation of boredom or dissatisfaction in a sample of beholders than others. Some people will be more prone to such sensations than others, and this may vary over time. There are also things you can do to reduce the likelihood of such sensations. Anyone who never experiences such sensations when hillwalking is very blessed, but I would suspect is also in a small minority.

A bit of self-compassion is perhaps helpful - don't beat your self up mentally if you experience such sensations. Try to observe them without judgement and see what you can do to avoid them in future.
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Re: Feelings on the hills for mental health

Postby Caberfeidh » Sat Aug 29, 2020 1:24 pm

Oh yes. God, I miss the screaming...
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Re: Feelings on the hills for mental health

Postby Walkinmyfootsteps » Sun Aug 30, 2020 4:14 pm

I love the hills, love being outdoors and love the physical challenge.
For me the biggest ‘mental’ factor is the drive to them. Closest one is more than a 500 mile round trip. If I was back in Scotland it would be a canter as the walk up is the easiest part of the day. I did Meall Ghaordaidh yesterday in just over 3 hours up and down. The drive there and back took three times as long!
Keep at it OP, if you’ve done 125 of them you must be getting some enjoyment out of it!
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Re: Feelings on the hills for mental health

Postby goth_angel » Tue Sep 01, 2020 1:23 pm

It's a personal choice. Lots of good suggestions have been made but it's really down to you what you do about it. If you want to finish off the round for your own reasons it's your choice and that's fine.

I think this happens to a lot of people to be honest. It has certainly happened to me. For various reasons I realised a long time ago I was never going to finish the Munros which was okay. I'm now a decent chunk of the way through the Wainwrights and debating whether to push for the lot or not. I've had days where I have decided that I can't be bothered going on to the next hill as I wasn't feeling it and that's fine too, it is not as though the hill is going anywhere.

I was desperate to get back on the hills after lockdown but have subsequently found the mojo a bit lacking though lack of hill fitness (I live in Kent) didn't help.

I have certainly found some hills boring, A'Chailleach was one of them (boggy mess) and High Tove (really boggy mess). I've really enjoyed some of the allegedly dull ones though, for instance some of the Drumochter hills under snow cover and clear blue sky made for a fantastic day, as did Lord's Seat and Broom Fell on a crisp January day with great views over to Skiddaw.

Good luck regaining your mojo!
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Re: Feelings on the hills for mental health

Postby Gayatri Bhatt » Wed Sep 09, 2020 10:22 am

Personally I've never really struggled to find interesting aspects of a hill. My memory of the Monadhliath munros was coming across wildcat tracks and of Glen Banchor being stunning.
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