THE PROCESS: PART I
“Candy”
Imagine a friend is venting to you about their job. They hate pretty much everything about it; the hours are long, the work is bland & unfulfilling, the pay is barely enough, and they despise their coworkers. Now, imagine that this isn’t the first time they’ve complained about it—that it’s been this way for years, and if anything, their opinion of the job has declined over time, along with their happiness & well-being. And now, imagine that, despite all these trials and tribulations, day after day, they stay at the job.
Why, you might ask?
Because every now and then, on random occasions, the manager sends them a piece of their favorite candy.
That’s the only reason they stay.
You might think this scenario is ridiculous. You might even say it’s unrealistic, because obviously a person would never stay in a soul-sucking, miserable job for a measly piece of candy—one they aren’t even guaranteed to receive regularly. But what if I told you this behavior is not only something I’ve witnessed, but that there’s an entire sport whose dominant culture is built around encouraging it?
You’ve probably guessed by where this blog is posted that I’m talking about climbing so you’ve also maybe guessed that ‘friend’ in my earlier example is someone who is a climber—one who is miserable just about the whole time they are climbing. Yet there’s that sweet, sweet piece of candy keeping them on the wall—a piece of candy you know as…
Sending.
Sending really is like candy in a lot of ways. It no doubt can be pretty damn sweet. It can also be bitter, spicy, and so many other flavor preferences. But like candy, too much of it is often not good for us, because eating candy is a very small part of a balanced diet for survival...yet climbing culture centers candy like ancient star maps center the Earth.
Climbing magazines are like tours through a candy store, and climbing films show your favorite climbers nomming down on their confection of choice. Following any climbing hashtag on social media yields a ‘greatest candies’ compilation, and any feed on any climbing app will follow suit—even on KAYA. Climbing gyms have their role as well, often focusing on giving their visitors as much candy as possible, and even ordering their routesetters to produce as much candy as possible, perhaps even disguising some of it as vegetables.
Is my analogy game strong enough?
I’ll stop sweet talking you for a second. My point is that climbing is a process. Even the word “climbing” is a gerund verb, implying a movement, an evolution, a becoming. It’s a process, and a very beautiful one at that, yielding plenty of opportunities for joy, personal growth and fulfillment...yet our culture is focused on the result of that process—no, one result of that process.
We as climbers know that climbing does not always result in sending, but I wonder if we climbers have yet realized that sending does not always result in success...and perhaps ‘success’ can look like a lot of things besides sending.
NEXT UP ... PART II, “CONTEXT”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
DEVIN DABNEY
Storyteller | Climber | Rapper | KAYA Community Board Member
Devin uses climbing as a means of creative expression, via routesetting, music, creative writing, podcasting and so much more. He’s also an invaluable member of the KAYA Community Board, influencing how we introduce KAYA to the world and helping shape climbing for the better.