Hey, That Sounds Fun!
Like anything, the growth was slow, but I could feel my daily energy improving. My hands felt strong just driving down the road gripping the steering wheel. I felt great.
Lauren at the entrance of Stone with her favorite quote.
While I spent a large chunk of my childhood (and art school too) up in a tree or on top of the playground equipment instead of how the park was designed to be used, I had only ever set foot in a rock climbing gym a handful of times, and still have yet to go on an outdoor climbing trip. But baby, I'm ready to get out there.
You know that thing that you've never done, but every time it comes up in conversation you go "Oh man, I wish I could do that! I think I could be good at that." But then life goes on and you never do? And your inner child goes, "Heeeeey..... that sounded FUN!" Climbing was one of those things for me.
My body and my mind are now prepared to do something that less than a year ago I wouldn't have even given myself permission to think about doing. A weekend climbing trip hours away?! Who has the time or money to do that? Where would I go? Where would I even start? I didn't even know that I had put a mental limit on myself.
But every week I would walk into Stone through the front door, which has "Your Bridge To The Mountains" written on it, for early members hours. That sweet peaceful escape to a wall of challenges of my own choosing. Not the unexpected challenges life throws at you. These colorful problems which I might not be able to solve, might draw blood, might keep me up at night. But I was in control of them. I chose them. Which routes, how many times I would try. When I would walk away. When I would come back to them.
Lauren and her daughter, Lyra.
I got strong slowly but surely. 30 minutes here and there as often as possible for the first few months while my skin got tough and I learned how to climb carefully without overworking my joints. Finding the best balance for how often to climb a week without injuring myself. Like anything, the growth was slow, but I could feel my daily energy improving. My hands felt strong just driving down the road gripping the steering wheel. I felt great.
And then one day walking up to the front door, I read that "Your Bridge To The Mountains" quote again, which I had written off as something other people do. Something people with money, time off, no kids, and lots of experience climbing do. And it hit me. Right in the heart. I was going to climb a mountain someday. Me. Really and truly. Memories of watching climbers ascend Devils Tower in Wyoming and saying out loud to my husband how much it made me want to climb, and him looking at me like a crazy person. And now, I am that crazy person. I'm planning on joining the next outdoor climbing trip Stone is doing and I guarantee I will be crying with joy the entire time
You know that thing that you've never done, but every time it comes up in conversation you go "Oh man, I wish I could do that! I think I could be good at that." But then life goes on and you never do? And your inner child goes, "Heeeeey..... that sounded FUN!" Climbing was one of those things for me.
The other major marker of growth this year was the climbing comp Stone put on for their one year anniversary. I decided to sign up because I'm quite competitive at heart and up until this point I had only been competing against myself. It sounded like an exciting terrifying challenge. I spent the whole week before making sure I climbed my normal amount, but not too hard. Ate clean. Slept well. You know, anything to help calm my nerves and be prepared. But nothing could have prepared me.
I could feel the chalk in my lungs for days after the comp. So many people; so few that I recognized. I found the routes that looked possible, but challenging (more points that way) and watched better climbers do them over and over before I gave it my best shot. I didn't climb very much over the 4 hours, but I climbed harder routes than I ever had with more people watching than anyone could be comfortable with. I just had to pretend they were watching someone else.
I play music full-time for a living. I'm in front of crowds all the time. But I still get nervous about that when it's a new place or the crowd is different. Maybe that experience helped, who knows? This was mentally and physically the hardest thing I had done since giving birth to my daughter almost 6 years ago without drugs. If you can do that Lauren, you can climb a wall! You get scored based on your 5 highest scoring climbs. There were 30 minutes left and I had only done 4. I was crazy proud of myself for getting those 4, (I still haven't been able to do one of them since) but I had one more to go. I tried a handful of hard ones, but as the time ran out I had to give myself a pat on my heart, knowing that I had done better than I had expected and did a much easier climb just to get the 5th score in before the clock ran out.
I had signed up in the recreation category because I'd never done anything like this before, but I was pretty sure my climbs were not at the beginners’ level and I had literally climbed out of my category. With so many strong climbers around me, I felt sure I hadn't placed, but I felt so good. Even with all the chalk in my lungs. When the awards happened, I was completely shocked to win 2nd place in the Intermediate category. I even got some free chalk out of it, which was great because I had been out of chalk for months. Placing was affirming and surprising, but even more than that, it was the other members and employees of Stone making a big deal out of it for me that made me feel at home and seen. I am so incredibly proud of myself for literally doing the best I could have possibly done. I am blown away that I, someone who has never been in any type of athletic competition ever, could gain the mental strength and confidence in a year to compete at my highest level in the most stressful situation in front of a bunch of strangers. But, you know what, I had the home team advantage. I'm so grateful for my Stone family.
— Lauren