Motivation

Over the past couple of days I have been climbing at Bridges. Yet I feel as if I'm not doing anything new. I need a change of environment. As much as I love it, I gotta venture. And this rain killed my Mortar Rock idea I had. So the next place to go would be the Oakland gym. I haven't bouldered there (or any Touchstone gym) in a while. Getting to climb some different problems will be a nice addition to the change of scenery as well.

Speaking of motivation, I came across a friend (who I don't see often but am always psyched to see) Ethan Pringle's blog on the Five Ten website. It should a letter from a decade, perhaps more, that began his sponsorship with Five Ten. As I read over the letter, it hit me (finally, yes I am slow sometimes). To be noticed, it's not about climbing hard (I knew this) and being unapproachable as a person, you have to be able to pull down and be a good person (something I learned over the course of a year). No one wants to give a kook anything, so don't be a kook. At one point in time, we all go through being a kooks. What is a kook? Me. You. The person talking and spraying. The person getting angry for no reason. It's not just me whose guilty. Everyone is at points in time. And if you don't recognize those small little details I just pointed out, guess what? You're being a kook. Stop. It's taken a long time to get into my thick head. I wasted time, but I learned. I'm always learning. I thought it was something I had no control over (turns out I do have control over it). I was a serious kook. I'll admit it. I've calmed down a lot these past couple weeks. I'm impressed that I haven't gone off or exploded when it's always been so easy for me. You have to learn to know when you're doing wrong and admitting your mistakes so that hopefully you don't repeat them. (Thanks Ethan for posting that blog).

So with that in mind, I hope to be able to keep climbing and climbing well. I saw some photos from Leavenworth in Washington State that my buddy Alex Fritz posted through facebook. The rock looks really good. I would be psyched to go for a week or two. It look promising. I have many areas to get to this year. Tramway, Black Mt, a return Hueco Trip possibly in 2011, Way Lake, Joshua Tree, Priest Draw; the list is ever growing. I love climbing. So many places to see, yet so little time to see them in one life.

Stay psyched people.