Questions of Control
Desert Fly from steph davis on Vimeo.
Hi Steph,
I’m in a dramatic confusion of self-control and fear in the same time, because just by seeing you do the things you do, really makes me wanna ask myself a lot of questions of control and clean, relaxed psychic. I really do have power and motivation, but to go ropeless, to base jump… pfffffffff…
How do you keep your mind so clean, so fearless, so focused? What’s the secret?
I always enjoy watching people taking it to the limit of their own, and beyond!
All the best!
—
Lucian Bursuc
Dear Lucian,
Thanks for writing to me! I don’t know the secret of focus, but I like your words: keeping your mind clean.
When I was younger, I always wanted to succeed at the things I tried. It did feel good to have that moment of success, but I now see that it’s always a very fleeting satisfaction. It’s good, but it’s not enough to fulfill.
Keeping a clean mind is a constant effort, and one that feels very good. Being able to focus on something, without outside distractions, is a true luxury. I guess I really like doing things that demand a brief window of absolute focus. It’s nice to be able to embrace the big, busy world, but also to slip away and become focused on only one thing for a time. The more you do that, the easier it becomes to go to that mind state. I find it very healthy to have times of absolute focus, which is what high-risk activities give you.
I guess if I had to give one simple answer to your question, and try to guess the “secret,” for me right now it would be:
do good, be good, have fun
xx Steph
Well said. I’ve been meaning to ask you about your experiences with performance anxiety & sports. My AFF instructor pointed out my issues with performance anxiety and having someone call me out on it very much changed how I see jumping AND climbing. Should I email? 😉
I agree, well said.
Reminded me of this quote:
“Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear – not absence of fear.”
Mark Twain (1835 – 1910)
Awesome video!