My wife Natalie knows that I can be a little fanatical about the batteries in my electronic devices. If it’s getting below 60%, I’m starting to feel a bit anxious. Ok, I’m at 58% now… if we went out climbing for the day, and I accidentally left GPS enabled, my phone could die! The dire consequences of this tragedy are that the telemarketers wouldn’t be able to bother me, I wouldn’t be able to check my work email, and I wouldn’t be able to read about the most recent police shooting. This actually sounds like one of the best days of the year to me. Clearly my fears are not rational.
But I’m not alone. Judging from the panic and frustration I see in the faces of those searching for the nearest outlet in coffee shops and airports, we all seem worried about suddenly being disconnected. What if we can’t respond to our friend’s text? What if we don’t know the directions? Oh the loneliness, the helplessness!
But wait. It’s kind of nice to be disconnected. After a brief detoxification, it frees your mind to focus on what’s right in front of you. Without all of the distractions, you can truly be present. This is something that I love about climbing. When you’re climbing at your limit, there is nothing else happening in the world. There’s no space for it.
Finishing up AstroPop (11.b) in the Sunshine area of Spearfish Canyon
In your worst moments on the wall, you may be worrying about how you’ll make your next clip, how you can’t hold on because you’re too tired, or how big your fall is going to be. In your best moments, you make moves gracefully and powerfully to the top, performing a well-rehearsed dance to a genre of music that you can’t quite describe without having experienced it yourself. Either way, you’re not worrying about the batteries in your phone while you’re up there. On the wall, there’s nothing more important than right now. And frequently finding that mental state is really good for you.
Our trusty El Vanny Blanco parked in Spearfish Canyon
While plugging in charges our devices, unplugging recharges our souls. Strangely, over the past few years, I’ve often been less concerned about my own batteries than those in my electronics. This two month road trip is about correcting that.
So you can contact me tomorrow. Today, while climbing in the splendor of Spearfish Canyon, I think I’ll leave my phone behind, unused and unplugged, letting its batteries silently and beautifully run to zero.