Recess

Oh how I love the great outdoors.

Before we learned to dress ourselves, before we learned about decking ourselves, before we had technology do it all for us, we had our bodies and our minds and we worked them.

Why do I love climbing so much? It reminds me how to use my brain and my body. It takes me out of 2007 and brings me back to cave days where I had to use my arms and legs and my brain to plot my next move. And with the wrong step, I could die.

Yes, yes, of course there are all sorts of safety catches like ropes and harnesses and carabiners to make sure that doesn't happend, but you know, you get the idea.

I have said this before and I will say it again. I cannot live from one weekend to the other in some shopping mall, in some fancy restaurant, at some cushy little get-together. I cannot do coffees. I will stifle, I will stagnate, I will go mental.

I need to see the sky, I need to smell nature, touch the grit of soil. Be it ski, climb or sea, I just need to be reminded of where I stand in the big, big picture. And I think that if everyone did a bit of outside time in their lives, we would find ourselves alot humbler and happier.

Yesterday, after climbing at the gym, the F8 climbers ventured out to the skateboard park in Shah Alam. They've got some cool boulders and some excellent wall routes there too. When we arrived, we were like little children running around, wanting to try everything at once. The sky was blue, the clouds were amazing, the 'rocks' warm and the setting sun an excellent backdrop for cool rock climbing photography silhouttes. We attempted routes that were far too hard for us, clambering up with no technique, let alone style, stepping on loose holds and swinging out 20 feet in the air. Oh it was fun, it really was refreshing. I think this is something everyone needs to do once in a while - and that is, to PLAY!