Thoughts for the New Year
- January 2011
- Simple Living Climb
Hi Steph,
Thanks for being so accessible with your book, blog, and vimeo channel. Your lifestyle is pretty rad, especially because it’s so clear that your reason for pushing your limits is the personal centering of your mind and body, and of course fulfillment and happiness, and not any of the notoriety that you’ve received as a result of your achievements. I’d like to assume that’s why most climbers do it, but I haven’t read their books or blogs if they exist, so I can’t generalize to that end.
Society does a pretty good job of impressing upon individuals the idea that their success can only be measured by the name of the institution they graduated from, the level of their degree, the size of their salary, their job title and purchasing power. It was very refreshing to read that you rejected all of that in pursuit of something much more gratifying: doing what you love everyday.
I’m in the process of obtaining one of those degrees so that I can hopefully one day positively affect the lives of high school students by encouraging them to, without fear, structure their futures in the same way you did, around their happiness. Of course, I won’t trick them into thinking that going against the grain doesn’t come with hardships. As you mentioned, sometimes you faced doubts about the lifestyle you had chosen, which is expected, but I’ll share stories like yours (and yours will definitely be one of them) to classrooms of students to show them that the fears they’ll be facing by rejecting society’s pressures and illusions of the definition of success are normal and that they have to push beyond them if they want to be completely satisfied with themselves and their lives.
I love how you talk so matter-of-factly and humbly about these crazy experiences that you, and those you climb with, experience. Like those climbs you did in Patagonia or Pakistan. And the climbing community seems really tight and very helpful. I was in tears of laughter when I read about and imagined Dean and Timmy using Beth’s tandem bike to complete their link-up and also Timmy’s supportive/hilarious words on the way down El Cap. I was also in tears of happiness when Cybele told you to “Get mad!” so you could stick the final crux section of the Salathe Wall after finding that crumbled foothold, and of course when you completed the climb of El Cap with Beth. The environment you live your life in just seems very enriching and is one of the principle attractions I found in climbing (I just started this past week).
I also was attracted by climbing’s combination of mental and physical. Fortunately, my muscular strength and endurance are there from other sports, but i’ll have to work up that finger strength. What you discovered about yourself on your most difficult climbs, and also the in-touch feelings with nature you received on any climb, have become something that I want to experience. So hopefully i’ll be out there in the Valley or Patagonia someday. I would say a few years, but I don’t want to put an artificial time constraint on my progress. It could be sooner, could be later.
But ya, thanks for doing what you do, keep being you. I hope it (climbing, wingsuiting, basejumping, veganism etc) continues to bring you happiness and fulfillment. Just felt compelled to tell you some of what came to mind. Have a great 2011!
–Brendan
Dear Brendan,
What a great way to start 2011, as a new rock climber!
Thanks for your heartfelt letter. I love these conversations about lifestyle, choices and future goals.
I think you will be a great teacher, and wish you lots of luck on that path.
Happy New Year!
Steph
I tell you what, if the quality of Brendan’s climbing even slightly resembles the level of quality of his writing, he’s going to be pulling down 5.12s in no time. I am a novice writer, and an even worse climber, but insanely passionate about both nonetheless. It’s cool to see an amalgum of education and climbing in a well written piece. And I agree with him on all points. Be safe and have fun!
Damnit. I spelled amalgam wrong.
Hi Brendan,
I also want to be a teacher (middle school science) and have similar goals.
Have you heard of the Expeditionary Learning Schools Model? Its based on Outward Bound principles – (I got hooked on climbing thanks to an OB course :-). ELS is a whole school reform model but they have LOADS of teacher resources.
Good luck w/ climbing and education coursework!
Happy 2011!
-Mallory
I’m a high school student and a writer thinking about submitting work for publishing, and I have to say that I wish you were one of my teachers. We have almost zero outdoor education at my school, and most teachers are very focused on college preparedness. The only teacher that I think has your view is my Honors Bio teacher, who used to be a snowboarding bum in telluride. You will have some very lucky students.
Good Luck!
I get so many letters from people who are at that pivotal age, worrying about how to make life decisions and what those decisions should be, it seems like high schools and colleges should have it in their curriculum. I struggled really hard with those fears and doubts. Any students who are lucky enough to be in Brendan’s classes are going to have some guidance about at least making conscious decisions to explore their direction. I wish everyone got that opportunity.
Hey everyone, hopefully you’re all still out there reading this.
Jake, thanks for the compliments, I really value them. I think it’s just about believing that you can be as strong at anything as you will yourself to be. And i’m not the mentor here, I just know that we can be our own harshest critic and sometimes that can be humbling, but other times it can drain us of our motivation to excel. If a person just enjoys the process (the little things), whether it be writing or climbing, they might surprise themselves when the bigger picture starts to take form and will have done so without the stress and pressure of trying to compete and achieve. And by no means is it an easy thing to condition yourself to do, but open mental dialogue’s with yourself help a lot. Good luck in all!
Hi Mallory, that’s awesome. i checked it out online and it seems to advocate a lot of the same things that I want to see in schools. The best part about it, it’s a whole new model that’s looking to replace the existing one. I think that’s what we need in public schools in the US, to totally restructure the whole system and center it around making confident thinkers and self-aware individuals. Right now, it’s the quantity over quality approach. We’re ignoring the differences in ability and different needs of students, squandering their potential by mandating that they all learn in the same ways and at the same pace, in order to just push everyone through. And this is in response to the pressure coming down from institutional monoliths (Ivy League’s etc) who want to see a ton of AP classes, extracurricular activities in order to attract who they perceive to be the brightest students so they gain gain notoriety for their research and more funding. All the while, kids are dealing with the uncertainties and new discoveries that come with growing up. But ya, it just needs to change. So i think if you are a part of that you’re part of the future of teaching, something to be proud of. And of good luck to you in climbing and teaching and everything else!
Hi Adari! Definitely submit your writing! Writing is deeply personal and requires a lot of self-analysis, so it’s something to value and believe in. Most likely you write because you feel you have ideas that you think people will benefit from hearing, and you’re right. And it’s an expression of creativity, individuality, what makes you different from others and also a way to relate with others on things that make you the same. Many times it’s hard to reach people just by talking to them, but through the implications of your writing you can can change people’s lives, I’d argue, more easily. Even though your message was crafted for a certain end, the reader feels as if they’ve found it on their own by reading between the lines and into the characters of your fiction, making it much more likely that they implement it into their thinking or life. And that’s what it’s all about, connecting with others. I haven’t written anything yet, but i’m working on it. As for your teachers, that sucks, but the best thing to do is stay positive. Don’t let school, even though it is a necessity, dictate your happiness. Just take it in stride, find little things in each class period to enjoy and it makes it all a lot easier. Positive attitudes yield positive outcomes, and if they don’t sometimes, never let it affect your happiness. Just move on. It’s all about perspective, you’re in control and you get to filter everything through your own personal happiness prism and keep your life nice and bright, and optimistic. If you think a perspective isn’t working, never be afraid to change it either, oppose those of your teachers or the textbooks. Be open to new ideas, invent your own, and you’ll feel very free mentally. And I mean, ya, it’s mandatory that you be there everyday for a long time, but at least all your friends have to do the same so you get to see them everyday. And don’t forget either, age isn’t a determinant of intelligence or a way to judge the relevance of someone’s thoughts.. I’m only 21, but it doesn’t matter if someone’s 40, your ideas, your perspective, experiences all matter just as much.
Enjoy life and don’t be afraid to take the less traveled road!
Steph,
Definitely agree with you about the curriculum, mostly covered it to Mallory, so I won’t repeat myself. Thanks for the kind words, again. I think “some guidance” is the key phrase there. I’m not perfect, my advice shouldn’t be taken as the truth and I, just like everyone else, am trying to improve daily. They’re just ideas. Hopefully, people see value in them now and in the future, it’s why I share them and want to teach, but I completely embrace diversity and won’t try to impose them on others or get offended if they’re rejected. Oh and i love the Salathe Wall vid you posted on Vimeo, that madonna song really works in adding some feeling to the video surrounding the climb.
Hope to hear back from you all
–Brendan
Hi again – Brendan, I’m so glad you checked out the ELS model and I hope if you are interested in it that there’s a school using their model near you. I visited one here in NC called Evergreen Charter in Asheville. It would be SOOOO cool to work there.
I happened across this quote in Dead Point Magazine (free, about climbing if you’ve not seen it) in an advertisement: “Success is failure after failure without loss of enthusiasm” – Churchill. To me, this quote is awesome for climbing and in terms of eduction. I want my students to know that mistakes, misunderstandings, confusion, and questions are normal and necessary to life and learning. We wouldn’t be nearly as scientifically advanced as we are today w/o lots of mistakes and repeated effort. We wouldn’t win soccer games, get faster, get stronger, dance with more grace, draw better, write more concisely, ‘scend more difficult problems, or finish difficult routes without loads and loads of practice, falls, and failures.
I love it when the things in my life turn out to be totally interconnected :-). But I guess that’s what life is…
btws, Brendan, how’s climbing going now that you are a month or so in? How’s your finger strength?
My friend has started doing pull ups on one of the fingerboards at one of the gyms on our campus. I’ve yet to join her on this endeavor b/c no matter how hard I jump I can’t reach the board… But, I haven’t yet done real pull up anyway so its probably good to not be doing finger ones…