CONFESSIONS OF AN OUTDOORS ENTHUSIAST

A Confession

I really don’t know how to flirt. I’d also have no idea if I’m being flirted with. For example, before my girlfriend and I became intimate, we were best friends for 8 years. That’s 8 years of dropping hints on deaf ears. Eventually, I made a move based on intuition and her response was about time you fucking idiot. Sorry, baby. I like to keep things simple, so anyone expecting me to read between the lines is setting me up for failure.

When I found out about climbing, I never questioned why I fell in love so quickly. Nothing is quite as clear and intuitive as this relationship is.

An Understanding

When I found out about climbing, I never questioned why I fell in love so quickly. Nothing is quite as clear and intuitive as this relationship is. The only lines I need to read are the ones that I intend to climb. I didn’t need to flirt with the rock (Dwayne Johnson is another story though). We can get straight to it. Worst case scenario is that I die, best case I live to tell the tale with a couple of kick-ass pictures in my gallery. Climbing seemed complex on the outside but once I had the rope systems and movements dialed down it turned out to be a fairly simple activity. Let’s not forget the first climbers were bored farmers and toddlers; both highly intuitive and simple people.

Now imagine this. Someone threw a folder full of papers into the air. The papers fly everywhere, and as they fall to the ground you glance a couple of sentences. This is how I experience thoughts on a daily basis. Scattered, random, and difficult to follow up on. As far as I know, there is only one way around this: to be entirely present to the moment. If I am present in the moment my thoughts are collected and laser-focused. I dance with logic and intuition. I enter a flow. A trance. Timelessness. Meditation. Call it what you will, it is all the same. Climbing, playing music, underwater basket weaving; the activity is a metaphor. It could be literally anything, and I could be doing it in any number of ways.

The magical thing about flow is that it is accessible to us at all times. It reminds me of a story someone once told me of the fish that asked its mother, where is the water? The water is everywhere around us. We are in it. You can see it in the way seagrass sways with the current. It’s only a matter of knowing what to look for.

A Rant

This knowing is also very personal. I’m sure different people experience it in different ways at different times of their lives. There is no blue print and all generalizations are wrong – including this one. Making climbing about firsts has the opposite effect of inspiring anyone to do it. It makes it an exclusive and intimidating activity, and repels others from trying it out and experiencing the value of adventure. Its only aim is to make the title holder feel extra special about themselves. It’s simply bullshit. It does not help anyone.

Being the first Arab man, woman, or platypus does not do anything for anyone.

Being the first Arab man, woman, or platypus does not do anything for anyone. Are us Arabs built differently from other races that we deserve our own league? If someone has climbed Everest already, then that’s it. It’s done. We know it can be done. Anything else that comes after is simply to see if you can do it. It’s not about being an Arab. It’s either about wanting to just climb or wanting to be the inspirational sexy beautiful selfless hero we never asked for. Especially if your ascent is only made possible by the hundreds of Sherpas, guides, porters, and kitchen staff that carry 99% of your load. There’s nothing wrong with saying I climbed because I wanted to, but you won’t get a pat on the back for being the first to do it blindfolded on roller blades. Actually, that would be quite the achievement, but you get the idea.

A Conclusion

The world is a funny place, and we lead very peculiar lives in it. The more we explore it, the more we learn of our place in it, the less seriously we take ourselves. How could one stand in front of the giants and not laugh at their own insignificance? What a relief it is to be so small in in such a big world. The only thing we can do is look down at our feet, take it step by step, breathe deeply, and enjoy the ride!