Climbing reflects the dichotomy of human experience. It reflects Me versus Us/We; that dance of solitariness and togetherness that is part of every life and every relationship. On the one hand we each must climb alone. It is up to myself as a single individual person to use my hands and feet and experience and judgment to reach the top of a cliff, to reach safety. On the other hand, when I climb with a partner, with a friend, I am a member of a team. Two become one. I forge a partnership, a bond, with another person. We look out for each other. We keep each other safe. The rope between us is not only the physical link, an umbilical cord that connects us together, but it also symbolizes the common thread that connects us. It’s a slender thread that keeps us safe, that stops our falls, that safeguards our passage into an uncertain future.