You hear that word over and over in climbing. “Yo bra! You just gotta commit to that move!” or “That 14 pitch 5.11 trad climb in Canada is super committing.” If you climb, you know that feeling, that moment - when you HAVE to commit. If you don’t, you fail.
Mr Webster says that to commit means this:
- to give in trust or charge; consign.
- to consign for preservation: to commit ideas to writing.
- to pledge (oneself) to a position on an issue or question; express (one's intention, feeling, etc.)
- to bind or obligate, as by pledge or assurance; pledge:
- to entrust, especially for safekeeping; commend: to commitone's soul to God.
The “pledge,” “bind” and “obligate” part of the definition is what bothers me most. Whenever I think of committing, my heart races, my eyes widen, and the thought that runs through my head is “what if I can’t follow through?”
Last week I got to work with a senior coach at my climbing gym. He explained his philosophy of movement pertaining to teaching tiny humans how to climb. They must be dynamic, since they are so short and not quite as strong. They have to learn to go from a balled up stance to waaaay stretched out and then back again. And most importantly, you have to teach them to go for the hold anyway. Even if they don’t think they are going to make it. This instills the habit of trying, giving that little extra umph at the end, even when their confidence is low. This habit actually increases their rate of success, since they for sure won’t make the move if they don’t even try. I started applying this to my own climbing and noticed that I made about 50% of the holds I thought were too far away for me. So much for accurate self-perception.
Learning to commit is a valuable lesson. In climbing, it’s knowing when to give yourself in trust that the process will lead to a favorable outcome. It’s also knowing when the commitment is just too great for you at that moment, and choosing to back off. Like so many of the lessons learned on the rock, commitment easily applies to real life. I’ve been super hesitant about obligating myself to a few of the projects I’ve had on my back burner. These are things I really want to do, and I want to do them well. Grad school, for example, waited for three years while I explored and decided what direction in life I wanted to go. In 2012, I’ve taken yet another step off the edge. My super secret project is no longer so super secret. :)
With the help of an awesome friend, I FINALLY launched GearWhor.es. I’ve been working on it since last May. I spent the whole summer collecting and unifying climbing gear data across multiple brands. The idea is to be able to find pieces of gear that share similar characteristics, and choose from among them. Why? Not sure. I thought it was a good idea. I love gear. I’m a little nerdy. Why not?
Cause committing to maintaining a gear research and review website is freaking scary. I’ve invested so much of my own time, and the time of others, that if I launch and do badly I’d be doing everyone involved a big disservice. I know nothing about marketing or web development. I only have the resources of my tiny blog and the friends I’ve made to start from. The chances that my baby will succeed seem small.
But that’s not the point. The point is that there is a chance. The point is that I have LOVED every moment of getting the site up and running, and I LOVE all the possibilities that it opens up. What if I’m actually able to collect GOOD (meaning complete and well written) reviews on EVERY item. Visiting GearWhor.es would be like asking a friend which new thing to buy - personal and trusty. If I never step off the edge and slap at the hold, failure is certain. But committing, trying, leaning into the process, trusting your abilities - I just might make something I thought was far out of my reach.
So yeah :) Go visit. Or write me a review. Or link (I’ll link back!). I’m in it for the long haul.
Committed.
Cause committing to maintaining a gear research and review website is freaking scary. I’ve invested so much of my own time, and the time of others, that if I launch and do badly I’d be doing everyone involved a big disservice. I know nothing about marketing or web development. I only have the resources of my tiny blog and the friends I’ve made to start from. The chances that my baby will succeed seem small.
But that’s not the point. The point is that there is a chance. The point is that I have LOVED every moment of getting the site up and running, and I LOVE all the possibilities that it opens up. What if I’m actually able to collect GOOD (meaning complete and well written) reviews on EVERY item. Visiting GearWhor.es would be like asking a friend which new thing to buy - personal and trusty. If I never step off the edge and slap at the hold, failure is certain. But committing, trying, leaning into the process, trusting your abilities - I just might make something I thought was far out of my reach.
So yeah :) Go visit. Or write me a review. Or link (I’ll link back!). I’m in it for the long haul.
Committed.
