“Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you are right.” –Henry Ford I love this quote and how it applies directly to climbing. Have I talked enough about the ego busting nature of climbing? How just when you think you’ve progressed you’re brought down a peg or two? It’s the challenge and beauty…
A very strange yet very real thing happened to me while climbing with Zeke at the Hive North Shore last week. I learned something – your mind is unbelievably powerful. Who knew? Well, I suppose some people have already learned that, but to experience it in real-time is well, kind of remarkable. What’s even more remarkable…
There’s a word we toss around a lot in our society these days – inspiration. With the rise of the hashtag, all sorts of new and luscious as well as annoying expressions have taken shape and become part of the zeitgeist. I’ve been reading a few articles lately on the word “empowerment” and how it’s…
“Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.” ~Mahatma Gandhi This may be one of my most personal and scariest posts that I’ve written yet, but, it’s kind of urging me to get it out there. That’s one of the weird things about being a writer. You have all these…
“Just breathe Kristi. Breathe.” I look down at my surroundings and try to focus on their peace-inducing beauty. I see the sun dousing the Portuguese countryside with its rays, giving it a dry and warm glow, I hear a dog barking off in the distance and I see a crumbling old farmhouse across the…
Last weekend was our first time bouldering outside this season after our usual winter stint in the climbing gym and I was super excited to get up to Squamish. The weather was perfect, we’d been getting back into shape after being so sick and we were ready to test ourselves outside…well, kind of. The first…
Well, I certainly didn’t expect my last post for The Vancouver Sun to be about a nude beach and bouldering in Portugal, but I didn’t really expect to go to a nude beach and boulder in Portugal as well. Life is certainly full of surprises. The Vancouver Sun has shut down its community blog…
“Anything I’ve ever done that ultimately was worthwhile initially scared me to death.” ~Anonymous I have a pretty severe fear of heights. One time when I was on a road trip in the South West with my two friends we stopped in the Grand Canyon. My friend, who is a photographer, really wanted a photo…
Conversation with the finger physiotherapist I visited after injuring my finger climbing this summer: Physio: So, tell me. How did you injure your finger? Me: Climbing Physio: Oh! Another climber. Of course. Me: So….when can I start climbing again? Physio: Climbers! You are ALL totally addicted! This pretty much sums up many a climber’s life.…
“If your mind is empty, it is ready for anything. In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities; in the expert’s mind there are few.” ~Shunryu Suzuki As children we are used to constantly falling. Constantly failing. Constantly not being able to reach something, do something, be good at something. We roll with it and…
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