Yes I have a climbing wall at my house.
Also yes….I’m afraid of heights.
I recently watched the documentary Free Solo, and all I can say is: Wow!
So today, I want to give you a brief overview of the movie (no spoilers), what I learned from it, and why I think it may be the best documentary of all time.
Here’s the gist: It’s about a guy that climbs a mountain…..
Without ropes.
Yeah you read that right.
I watched this movie and my palms dripped with sweat. My heart raced. The suspense built as the story unfolded. And all the while you’re wondering, who will win? Alex or the mountain?
Beautiful scenery narrated with the story of struggle and growth.
The movie is more about the man than the climb. And this is what makes it so great.
It’s about Alex Honnold, possibly the greatest climber of all time. And it seeks to answer the question: What pushes him to risk his life in pursuit of such great heights?
It’s about his psyche. His drive. His love and passion. And maybe a little about his nihilism.
You get to see the people that love him and fear for him. And you feel the pressure that builds when pursuing something other-worldly.
The movie got me thinking….
What am I going to do now? What direction should I take? What crazy idea do I have that I can make a reality?
You see, life is all about focus. Where you focus is where you’ll go. If I’m not focused, I’ll drift. Then look back and years will have passed.
I have to continue to move. To learn. To grow. To push forward. To have weird ideas and roll the dice.
I’m never content. And I don’t want to be.
For the last couple of years, my goal was to write a book. So I wrote it. Hated it. Threw it out. Then wrote a different one.
Now that it’s done and out there for the world. I’m not sure what to do with myself. My mind goes in a million directions.
I have so many ideas. I never know which one I’m going to pick and run with.
But pease don’t think just because I have a lot of ideas that I’m saying they are all good ideas. They aren’t. I have to test them for a while inside this old brain of mine. Let them try and build a foundation before building on them further.
I ask a few questions:
- Will this make me a better person?
- Will I be happy?
- Will this take time away from family?
- Am I willing to go all the way?
Okay, so none of that was very important for you to know. But I had to write all that to get to this….
In search for self direction, I can only pretend to understand. When dealing with a mountain, there’s only one reasonable approach……
Climb.
When I seek the inner road, the outer path is cleared. And when I clear the outer path, the inner road is opened. Yin and Yang. The balance.
Life is like a slack line, suspended 2000 feet in the air. The keys to getting across: All mind. All body. All one.
Life is more than a bowl of facts and figures. More than what science explains or demands. We are more than meat robots and chemical explosions.
Life is a beautifully wild mix of quantum entanglement, spiritual enlightenment, blood, and guts.
Life and death. Struggle and growth.
It’s in the mix of all these that we find purpose.
That we find our true selves.
Now go and get to climbing.
With or without ropes. Your call.
But just remember…
This was not medical advice.
p.s.
Well…..maybe it is.
I’ve written before how bouldering can help treat depression.
So for some people that’s exactly what climbing is…..medical advice.
But you probably need professional assistance. And you probably need ropes 😉
p.p.s.
Watch FREE SOLO
p.p.p.s.
If you still have time between climbs…..read my book
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