Be here now, they say. Ram Dass’ mantra has become one of those cliché yet fundamentally true idioms we all strive to understand. Many doors are available for us to access the present. It’s found by some through rhythmic breath or reciting a mantra, playing music or dancing to it. For snowboarders, it’s often found by inserting ourselves into a concert of natural phenomena wherein gravity pulls us down a mountain, and our adrenalized focus on steering the ship mutes the monkey mind. In most cases, there’s a ramping up, an easing into that state so gentle that time seems irrelevant once you’re there. Conversely, the moment you hear that someone you love has died is one of the few life experiences that thrusts you into the present with such velocity that you crumble, pining to be anywhere but now.

In 30 years, Blake Paul has experienced more extreme elation and devastation than most do in a lifetime. A life-threatening childhood head injury, befriending his heroes, tragic loss, finding genuine purpose in his passions, dark depression and realizing his dreams. He’s mature enough to understand the buoyancy of his emotions and wise enough to appreciate them…

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