Eye of the Mountain
Memoir · By Tommy Bielskis · 1 min read · April 21, 2026
Rites of Initiation
Reads a life not as gradual progress but as a sequence of thresholds that ended one identity and made another possible. The piece gathers embodied, relational, and spiritual rites of passage into an autobiography of discontinuous becoming.
“Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards”
- Søren
My life hasn’t changed gradually. It has changed in thresholds. Here are some of the rites of passage that shaped me.
Survival
1984 - Born - failure to thrive
1987 - Face smashed open by my father - shock collar installed
1996 - My father kills my pet rats - who’s who
2001 - Leaving for a high school in Vilnius to live by myself at 16 - free and alone
2003 - Publishing a guide book on US college admissions - inspiration in collaboration
2009 - Riding bike for 8 weeks - moving from point A to point B every day
2012 - Running 28 miles - the will and the wind
2012 - Epic on the Incredible Hulk - a brush with death
2013 - Broken knee - trauma begets trauma, until faced
2013 - Eyes on fire mobile - betrayal in love
2014 - Learning to fly - growing my wings
2014 - Climbing El Cap - one placement at a time
2016 - Parenthood 1.0
2018 - Parenthood 2.0
2019 - Straw light - deciding to live
Descent
2020 - Broken spine - change of direction
2021 - Simple and Sinister standard - healing is possible, capacity can be built
2023 - Vision quest - meeting myself for the first time
Integration
2024 - Tattoo - accepting reality, committing to growth and truth
2025 - Chakra glasses - coherence of the center
2025 - Helm of Dustiny - bringing tomorrow into today
2025 - Eye of the Mountain Substack - signal for contact
No more thresholds. Only practice and participation.