Rocks Anonymous

The smell of chalk dust and anticipation, lights up my brain, narrowing my focus to a pinpoint of cold, unforgiving rock. The beauty of the rock as it gives one the option to dance in so many ways up its face. The granules of each stone feel like old friends, and are greeted by my fingertips as such, a bond formed between life and the clarity of stone. Standing at the bottom of a climb brings nothing but excitement and anticipation, and the mind climbs up the wall before the body has even started moving.

Any time I start up a new face, my mind spins with the possibilities, and my heart decides to keep time with the ancient pulse of the rock. I am excited by the monoliths, the unclimbed and the impossible. The mountains throb with an undeniable energy, lighting my soul from within, as I become as light as the wind, as powerful as the Earth. I am drawn to the places where what is wild engulfs me, the danger calms me, and the silence blinds me. The canyons so deep that I cannot see the sky, the unfamiliar soil. Answered by echoes, left to my thoughts, these are the places that teach me who I can be, who I once was. The mountains know me, they address me as a friend, and I itch for the days when I am among them.

As I enter the...