We have suggested that the only true thing is real, but how do we define our skiing reality? At first, we believe that it exists and that we are independent of it, but it is our mind that constructs it. After recognizing this, we come to comprehend it as we know ourselves.
According to absolute idealism, the only skiing reality that exists is the contents of our consciousness through our perceptions. Absolute idealists believe that existing is perceiving, since things do not exist but are perceived.
In relative idealism, skiing reality is revealed to us through phenomena. According to this philosophical school, skiing exists, but we do not know it as it is, but as it appears to us. We are only able to know the phenomena or manifestations of skiing.
Realism, on the other hand, asserts that there really exists a skiing world beyond our own that is not a construct of our mind. This “world” is felt and understood, though not exhaustively, because of our intelligence. There are two tendencies in realism: conceptual realism affirms that we do not immediately perceive skiing, but rather the phenomena of skiing, and then through it we perceive. Perceptual realism, however, holds that we perceive skiing immediately.
In Sartre’s philosophy, we see that reality is divided into two parts. Being-for-itself is the being of a person as subjectivity, consciousness, and freedom. The being-in-itself is the being of the realities of things and objects. It is what presents itself to us, that which is outside of us, the being of external things that lack temporality and becoming, as well as any reason for being.
In the words of Hegel, “the real is rational, and the rational is real.” Our thoughts contribute to defining us and defining a skiing reality, an idea that is not new. Reality is characterized by logic and rationality, however, is skiing reality truly logical, or is it simply a projection of ours through which we organize our skiing? What we accept in our minds becomes our reality; therefore, any mental decision affects both our behavior and our experiences.
Karl Jaspers’ limit situations refer to contingencies, such as falling, guilt, and our skiing reality that we cannot avoid or modify. Therefore, we should accept what is, instead of what ought to be, because if we resist, we will be dependent on the situation, and this will determine our happiness, or unhappiness.
Even if we accept them, there are situations in our skiing reality that we can modify, as well as recognize that the only real skiing is changing and temporary. The only skiing reality is what is happening at this moment, not the previous run nor the one that will come later. Skiing conditions are neither positive nor negative; they are what they are. When we fully accept what is, which is the only sensible way to ski, there will be no ‘good’ or ‘bad’ skiing.
To comprehend the reality of our skiing it is imperative to divide it into two extremes: without the fall, balance cannot be comprehended. In nature, there is no distinction between good and bad. These are terms adapted to our reasoning, which is born of the need to differentiate between right and wrong. We define right and wrong just as right and wrong define us. When our skiing is right, we understand when it is wrong.
Happiness is a positive interpretation of reality, while sadness is a negative one. Thus, the skiing reality we perceive is neutral; it is we who, in trying to interpret it, label it into one of two values, positive or negative.
When we consider something concrete, we are denying the rest of the possibilities. For this reason, we do not perceive skiing facts in the same way; what for one skier is a positive reality, may be a negative for another. Therefore, everything is relative, and it depends on perspectives. All perspectives are equally valid because they are all our own interpretations. We use ourselves as references in order to understand the skiing reality around us.
In most of our actions, we may ask ourselves about the existing skiing reality, to which we respond with a “yes” or with a “no”. If we are going to ski off-piste in crust snow, we will surely question ourselves about whether the snow will hold us. When we receive a “yes”, reality reveals its “being”, and when we obtain a “no”, it manifests its “non-being”.
The ‘being’ of a ski slope is all the people who interact with it, but in some parts, there is a ‘non-being’, that is, an absence of being, empty spaces where an action, or several actions, are possible. If the slopes were full of ‘being’, freedom of action would be impossible. It is the non-being of the slopes that allows us to act, because it reveals us the empty spaces that exist in them.
Concluding this matter, the skiing reality of the physical environment not only determines our character, but also shapes it as skiers through the sensitive data coming from that environment. From our sensitive level of touch, we already know what causes us pleasure or distress when skiing. Through the vibration generated by sliding we perceive the reality of our skiing. Our senses are instruments that capture diverse vibratory states at distinct frequencies, which are then transmitted to our brain, which interprets this information and transforms it into the skiing reality we perceive.
