dedal de oro

Keep climbing!

In the outer trigon, the Dedal de Oro combines Industry and Curiosity: the will to work toward your goals, and the pleasure of delving deeply into something, becoming it. Committing to the experience.

In 2008, I studied abroad in Chile and took a week's vacation to the mountains. I went on a day trip up one of the mountains, and as we climbed, I began to falter. It was a lot of exertion in the bright, cold, thin air.
As we reached the point where we could see the river snaking into the smog bowl of Santiago below, I began to see small orange-yellow flowers along the path. They cheered me and I asked the guide what they were; "dedal de oro," she said – chalice of gold. Each time I saw one after that, it had a strengthening effect. We made it to the top.

In 2013, I went on a bike camping trip in California, and as we charged up the one massive hill between us and the campsite, I saw the same small golden flowers. Here, they're called the California poppy.

We've come a long way, and we'll keep climbing.

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