Greenbackyard

The Passionate Rock Climber

I mentioned a couple of days ago that I had recently discovered a brand new, all encompassing passion: rock climbing.

Before I go into this again though, it’s also important to notice that I am going through a very intense period in my life at the moment, a massive roller coaster, with very large swings of ups and downs and mixing “dreamy/fantasy” in what would otherwise seem like a normal existence, it seems to defy magic realism. Or maybe this is also again, part of my imagination of it being a bit too far fetched and trying to find meaning in everything. Why is this important? Because through crisis is that I also reflect very seriously about what I am doing with my life and reconsider the choices I have made in the past.

So trying to gently get back into the subject of rock climbing, how often is it that you find your Element (as described in Ken Robinson’s book) or at least one part of it? I guess that occasionally you stumble upon them and sometimes you engineer them. I’ve just read a post by John Nunemaker titled “I have no talent” in which he states that most of his best work is due to his perseverance and hard work and, of course, his passion for his craft, software development. This made me think: “Is talent something that really matters to me? Do I have any talent(s)?” and before I pursue this line even further, let me clearly say that I agree with John: only hard work gives results, I think it’s really the only way. I think the same applies to passions, like rock climbing. I do have a certain affinity (physically) towards that sport, I am not sure if I’d call that talent but it’s definitely a _connection_ however without all the hard work I would not be getting any better and my frustrations would just keep on growing. I have worked pretty hard to keep this passion of climbing alive, of course when you love something and you enjoy it, working for it doesn’t seem like such an effort. my training routine has got me a few “you are crazy” comments (and trust me it’s not all that intense) It requires persistence and a lot of sheer determination to get through it. Some days it can get hard (hangovers for example, are my worst enemies ).

Working towards ones goals and passions takes many forms. For me it’s been focusing on a routine that pushes me a bit further every time. and that I can do without machines or without having to rely on specialized help. and of course that I can do on my own so that I have to rely solely on my own motivation and not on somebody else to drag me out for a climb. If I get to share those moments with others that’s awesome however since I always struggled to get my own routines underway I needed to rely on my own energy. And it’s also about reading a lot about climbing and about conditioning for climbers, mostly because I am not a trainer and I have a vague idea of where my weaknesses are in terms of strength and flexibility however I needed some advice that would guide me towards the most effective training routines. BTW the most influential book for me so far has been The Rock Warrior’s Way by Arno Ilgner.

The journey has begun.