My first two loves were high places and the act of reaching them.
People have probably written research studies about the benefits of climbing trees, but I haven’t read them. The only point of reference I have is purely anecdotal.
When I was a kid, my second cousins, who live near the beach, taught me how to climb the rocks at the shore. And I fell in love with it. At that time, my kid body wasn’t big enough, my limbs weren’t long enough, to truly climb as I would have liked. I haven’t been back to the beach as an adult, but if I get the chance, you know I’ll make a beeline for them once again. Climbing rocks at the shore is much different than on a wall at the gym. We’re talking natural rock formations. Sure, there are repeated shapes and consistent weathering and such, but much less than what you’d find on a man-made wall. And the process of climbing them is much more dynamic and creative. Besides, you’re surrounded by the elements: wind, sun, and humidity.
Rock climbing walls are very difficult for me, but not rocks on the shoreline. Those come naturally to me. Both rocks and trees hold the same kind of puzzle for me: I have to assess how to get both up and down them while factoring in the limitations of my own body. And while I’m mentally solving the puzzle, I’m also physically exerting my muscles, which transmits dopamine to the brain. Climbing is a form of therapy for me.
I must have been about 7 or 8 when I first tried to climb the tree in the yard outside my maternal family’s house. Once I’d reached a nice, high spot, I found that I never wanted to climb back down. As I explained many years later, “There’s something unique about sitting in trees. The air is clearer up there and you get a glimpse of where you fit in the grand scheme of things. Time stops for a moment, all is quiet, and you feel the earth widen beneath your feet.”
High places have a very special place in my heart. It’s there that I find a peace and a perspective that I’ve never found anywhere else. I firmly believe that my love for high places is a gift from God, that I might draw ever nearer to Him.
“The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights.” The Bible, Habakkuk 3:19
Very nice! High places have the opposite effect on me, but I know what you mean because I feel the same thing when I sit on the beach.
There's something unique about climbing things. When I was a child, I used to
"climb" doorways by placing my right feet and hand on the right side of the doorway and my left hand and feet on the left sideshimmy up the doorway with my hands and feet. I don't think my description makes any sense. When I was a teenager, a friend of mine and I used to climb gates and fences to private properties, just for the fun of it😆. The higher the fence, the more exciting it was.The description was perfect, but we have a word for that: you shimmied up the doorway with you hands and feet.
Thanks 👍.
@Simone- I used to shimmy up doorframes too! Yes, climbing is the coolest activity.
Glad to know that I wasn't the only one 🙂.