“The Mountain is You” by Brianna Wiest: Reflections
Synopsis of the Intro-Chapter 1 and the Intersection of Christianity
I really enjoy Sci-Fi/Fantasy because it is the exploration into the unknown, the creative, the dark and mysterious. I admire creators, directors, and writers who have the ingenuity and courage to dabble in that space while offering their perspective of life’s reality. However, for true exploration, ‘to boldly go where no one has gone before’ we only need to look within. The exploration of the self is the next frontier if you have the courage, competence, and compassion to accept such a mission.
These past few months have been one of intense and deep internal searching, self-expression, and exploration. I want to… but I know I cannot recommend this book to everyone since not everyone is ready to face their mountains. I have been in an emotionally and mentally ready state that enabled me to receive the sharpening, challenges, and convictions from it. A few years and even months ago, definitely not. Still, I am sure there is much that I missed. Reading it with other people was extremely helpful. The following is less an overall book review but rather a short synopsis of my interaction with the book, as well as lessons learned.
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“The Mountain is You” by Brianna Wiest was recommended by a friend who read my vulnerability as a cry for help and responded appropriately. I don’t read self-help books. Yet, I respect my friend’s wisdom enough to explore my discomfort. I am not interested in fluff nor anything that is not grounded in the realities of hope, love, and faith without the context of evil, suffering, and poverty. If you cannot leave space for “everything does not always workout,” then I would have a hard time believing anything you say. On this earth, everything does not always work out, justice is not always served, we won’t all just get along.
There is actually freedom in holding the tensions of life’s complexities while being assured of our purposefulness and uniqueness. Brianna Wiest gets this. Brianna and I are probably operating from different starting points, worldviews, and have future endpoints in mind; regardless, there is a lot of meat for the Christian to chew on, and as with anything, spit out the bones.
Your Mountain
The mountain, often exposed by external circumstances, brings attention to the true battle that is within. “When we can no longer rely on our coping mechanisms to help distract us from the problems in our lives, it can feel as though we’ve hit rock bottom. The reality is that this sort of awakening is what happens when we finally come to terms with the problems that have existed for a long time. The breakdown is often just the tipping point that precedes the breakthrough, the moment a star implodes before it becomes a supernova.”1
The reality is we all have mountains. We spend much of our time coping so that we do not have to face our mountains. My biggest fear in life is believing I am dealing with an ant hill, yet everyone around me knows it’s my mountain. Fortunately, for the Christian, seek and you will find, ask and an answer will be given, knock and the door will be opened (Mt 7:7). Unfortunately, our obstinacy or cognitive rigidity may be so hardlined or we may be so blind that it takes our undoing in order to see and understand (Isaiah 6).
“Your mountain requires you to reconcile two parts of you: the conscious and the unconscious, the part of you that is aware of what you want and the part of you that is not aware of why you are still holding yourself back.”2
The emotions you experience are triggers that you have a mountain. Are you doing everything to avoid your emotions, so you do not have to come to terms with that relationship, your role/status/place in life, the guilt, anger, or shame? “Usually when we have a problem that is circumstantial, we are facing the reality of life. When we have a problem that is chronic, we are facing the reality of ourselves.”3
Personal Reflection, Interpersonal Gain
While you are dealing with yourself, you then begin to realize that other people have their mountains too. Mind blown. Then you realize your supervisor’s immaturity is not vindictive, it’s their coping mechanism; your mother’s behavior is not evil, it is a reaction to their childhood trauma; your colleague’s betrayal isn’t your problem to fix, it is their loss of a valuable relationship. When you wrestle with your own mountains, you are then able to better interact with those around you.
Of note, when doing the necessary self-work of freeing yourself, you will immediately meet resistance. People familiar with your old self, including you, will want to react to you as if you were the old you. Continue to let the old you die daily so that you are renewed in new mercies (Lk 9:23; Lam 3:23). Do not let the guilt of your progression cause you to stumble because you should have been freer faster and long ago. You did what you could with what you had in the past; celebrate that your liberation is taking you to new heights, perspectives, and spirituality now.
“If you are depressed you are living in the past. If you are anxious you are living in the future. If you are at peace you are living in the present.” Lao Tzu
The Mountain and Christianity
The mountain is there, whether it is sin, a God-given opportunity, or just life. Either way, in Christ we are to seek peace and pursue it (Ps. 34:15), which includes seeking the peace within ourselves. Ignoring, circumventing, and remaining stagnant are not options for the Christian. Funny enough, Jesus says you can actually move the mountain with the faith of a mustard seed (Mt 17:20)! The mountains are for our sanctification into Christ-likeness and He has equipped us to finish the work that has been started (Phil 2:12-13; Gal 3:3; 2 Tim 3:17; Heb 13:21).
We must stop the self-sabotage. I love the language Brianna has given me to label self-defeating and destructive behavior preventing us from healing and freedom. “If there is an ongoing gap between where you are and where you want to be—and your efforts to close it are consistently met with your own resistance, pain, and discomfort—self-sabotage is almost always at work.”4 There are so many ways in which we are self-sabotaging: cognitive dissonance, self-induced friction, isolation, believing lies, denial, etc.
The Bible tells us to love others as we love ourselves. We often miss the point (particularly in Reformed circles) that we actually need to love ourselves. “The greatest act of self-love is to no longer accept a life you are unhappy with. It is to be able to state the problem plainly and in a straightforward manner.”5 Of course we do need to define happiness and love (not in this post). However, the idea for the Christian is that we should never be complacent. We spend our lifetimes identifying our problems biblically, accurately, and then conquering our sins through the One who has conquered sin and death (1 Cor 15).
I will not gloss over the point about stating the problem. So much of our trouble as Christians comes because we have incorrectly stated the true nature and depth of the problem. In many of our churches we are very selective in the sins that get the most attention and shame. We cannot even talk about the sins of racism, lust and pride that may exist in your church. Therefore, we cannot even begin repentance and reconciliation if we cannot accurately state or even talk about problems.
We’ve only discussed the intro-chapter 1 and we have more than enough to work with and on. I hope this encourages you to read the book, explore within, and seek peace.
Questions for reflection
In what ways are you coping instead of facing your mountain?
How are you self-sabotaging right now instead of becoming the person you want to be?
Can you accurately state the top three problems in your life?
What are you doing to do about the mountain in your life?
Wiest, Brianna. The Mountain Is You: Transforming Self-Sabotage Into Self-Mastery. 6.
Wiest. The Mountain Is You. 6.
Wiest. The Mountain Is You. 7.
Wiest. The Mountain Is You. 11.
Wiest. The Mountain Is You. 21.