The Sword and the Stone
With time and attention, the rock will teach you. Climbers see and feel things for themselves. The only authentic way. Great physical prowess means nothing if it still can’t be used to get from point A to B effectively. A calm mind can still be a weak mind if it is never tested under the frustrations of a challenge.
May we all fall regularly, so that we remember how to get up, so that we never forget how. We can learn to be like the cat with our reflexes, and not collapse like a sack of potatoes when we lose our grip. And if we never fall, then we are never learning for ourselves, as only by straying too far past our limits can we ever know where they exist.
Can you sit in your fear? Can you feel the crushing weight of self-doubt and climb forward anyway? We return to the only type of risk management that used to matter. The kind that keeps you alive and healthy, but still leaves the door open for experience.
There are young and reckless climbers, and there are old climbers, but there aren’t many old reckless climbers. Confidence must be distinguished from bravado; time is a great separator. Life at height can be experienced securely, and it can be with a solid footing and firm grip that we reach for the sky.
In bouldering, I found a return to process at a time when my competitive fires were dwindling. There is something romantic about a pastime where the cost of admission is layers of skin and a sense of adventure. Bouldering can be hiking with style, a more primal way of locomoting, or a Sisyphus struggle for the challenge that will fill a man’s heart. Projects that call to the climber, and whisper sweet nothings, as he repeatedly throws himself against his momentary calling.
Climbing unifies. A yogi’s breath, analyst’s mindset, and great physical prowess can all be forged with practice on the rock. Larger than all individual attributes is efficient movement. Strength in simplicity of problem solving. An introspective return to quality when allowed. Can you embody your intelligence? Show your flexibility and freedom with your environment? Write your own story?
