Mom, this is what I look like when I climb... like a goof! Like so many characters before me, I have decided that climbing is great training for the harder stuff that is the rest of life.

What a weekend. Went to Squamish with a little crew for a glorious weekend of bouldering. Picture rare fall sunlight coming in sharp through the trees. The grand wall rising cold and hard above the canopy. Your breath swirls in currents with the chalk dust.

Had my butt handed to me on many occasions. We used the propane lanterns for some night bouldering. Slept out under the cold, unusually clear sky.

Well, that’s actually not true. When I went to bed, it was in my Tarn 3 tent palace.

I am enjoying the apprenticeship process that is climbing — not just picking up the skill sets, but chatting with people about what it means to scamper around on silly rocks. I am afraid of heights. I get scared when I’m not completely in control (and ah, this statement has so many applications). My biggest challenge is balancing the mental gymnastics with the physical challenges, trusting myself, taking a (safe) chance, going hard when I can’t know the outcome.

Last night in the glow of the lantern, our climbing party had some pretty cool chats about the body and the mind… about what’s really important in life, and like so many dirtbags before us, about how climbing is great practice for the other parts of life.

Here’s a rumination by Lao Tzu I feel speaks to the evening:

The five colours blind the eye.

The five tones deafen the ears.

The five flavours cloy the palate.

Racing and hunting madden the mind.

Rare goods tempt men to do wrong.

Therefore, the Sage takes care of the belly; not the eye.

He prefers what is within from what is without.