Sense of purpose in leaving regular life for climbing

"regular", "normal" life? If you have the means, define your own. 

And yes, agree with Cherokee, needs/enjoyment of traveling or any other aspect of living life can change drastically either from overdoing it, just getting older or traumatic events. Having had all three, I am grateful to have had the means and ability to define my own normal. Live life fully now or you risk the potential to not be able to later.

M Mwrote:

The end game is definitely part of this philosophical equation. 

Not really.  

My students ask me how I think the world will end. My response is, "If we haven't killed ourselves with nuclear weapons then climate change will do the job. If we avoid climate change we can't stop the sun from becoming a red giant. If we leave the solar system, the galaxy is dragging us into a black hole. Even if we could survive that, the universe will run out of energy or it'll under go the big crunch. In summary, your grades don't matter."

You ever just sit there tired and cold licking peanut butter off a nut tool on a warm sunny rock your done climbing. Good place to work towards being 

When I was younger, I either was in school or worked full time but climbed every single free second I had. I felt satisfied with that. At that time, I felt that being a climber was my identity and needed it like breathing oxygen like someone said. Career was something I loved but never felt it was a part of my identity. Despite that, I felt like I had enough time to climb and didn’t have a desire to go full time dirt bagging.

20+ years later, I have 3 kids, a marriage, and still the same job though I work part time. For me, having kids turned out to be actually more fun than climbing. I never thought I would say that. Had the first kid mostly because my husband wanted kids. Had the third despite his reservations LOL. But they are a time suck, and despite going part time, I do feel like I don’t have enough time to climb and sometimes wish I could quit my job and just be a mom and climb. But I like being debt free and owning a house and a nice retirement fund. Barring some catastrophe, we are going to have a nice comfortable retirement, and that is more important than having enough time for climbing. BTW, I no longer feel that being a climber is a part of my identity even though I still think it is the only hobby I have that is fun enough for me to spend time away from kids.  Yeah, climbing got demoted from life’s passion to a hobby at some point….

This all to say, our passion changes and you may wake up someday and find that climbing no longer feels like breathing oxygen. I would have never thought that would happen to me, but it did. And for me, I am glad that I will have material comfort as I age.  But of course y’all do you. I always admire people who lead that dirt bag life. 

Since you doubted climbing dirt bag career - this doubt is also your answer. You are not exited enough, not fit(?), not mentally predisposed to take on that adventure. And without a doubt if you take it you will fail, so there is a definite No answer. But this No is for You only. By the way, I seriously doubt that your motivation is making a difference in the community and not money. 

Good thread. I’ll add two thoughts: 

1) The reason to get a job is to have a family imo. Being married to someone you love is dope. Having a kid is dope. Raising kids is like big wall climbing: high highs and low lows, but always interesting.

2) Sometimes people with unlimited time accomplish very little. Granted, I’m a teacher and have always had summers off, but I’ve climbed way more rad routes than many of my friends who don’t have careers and kids. I just use my time waaayy more efficiently. I don’t watch Netflix. I train deliberately. I set goals. Obviously this isn’t true for all, but there are plenty of dirtbags who have too much free time to use it intentionally. 

Meh, Sense of purpose is overrated. If you have the means, do what you like to enjoy living. Probably need to work for the almighty buck to do so, so do so as intentionally as needed, but don't squander time waiting for some payout in later life. Live fully now, you never know the future. If climbing turns you on, just do it.

I disagree with the implication that a climbing life is not a "regular", or "normal" life. A regular or normal life for whom? For some buisnocrat, it's not, but for anyone who chooses it as a significant part of life it is regular and normal.

Choice is a wonderful thing if you have such luxury.

Passions and purpose will change as we do - as new people enter our lives, our circumstances change, and the world around us changes. I see a few comments referring to some jobs as being required - and many are - but far more are not, at their root, any more valid than the silliness of climbing. We have tens of thousands of years of human history that went just fine without product owners and accountants and senior machine learning engineers. I’m not saying these roles aren’t valuable - but they aren’t required. 

So when you do find that purpose and passion, I could never fault someone for following it through. Some words, from Jack London.

I would rather be ashes than dust!
I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot.
I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.
The function of man is to live, not to exist.
I shall not waste my days trying to prolong them.
I shall use my time.

Signed, someone whose radical sabbatical sadly needs to be coming to an end soon.

Regular life versus climbing? Look around, think for a second - climbing is very common and conventional. Jesus. And Jack London? Really?

I like sending shit, drinking beers and then going home and cooking amazing food for my *gasp* family. AMA

I think a quick analysis of the myriad of 40+ year old depressed and lonely hardcore climbing dirtbaggers makes it pretty obvious that there is a much deeper and richer meaning to life than climbing alone. One day you stop living a life of breadth and start living a life of depth.

Being tethered for a while in life has got to be better than being untethered while swirling down the proverbial drain. I'm a believer!

There's a world outside of climbing! Yes, of course! 

Surfing is great. Snowboarding is also awesome. Backpacking is very nice. Diving is fun and my wife's first love. Never got into mountain biking, but with more time... Travel and exploring new places is amazing - and you can combine that with all of the above.

I've never had work fit in there - it mostly just gets in the way. 

J W wrote:

I would argue that there’s nothing beyond climbing. Nothing, to channel MacLeish. Nothing, nothing, nothing at all.

Au contraire. When I quit climbing twenty years ago my life went on without any feelings of regret. Not a second thought, in fact. Looking at photos taken long ago brought nothing but a twinge of nostalgia, and no longing whatsoever. But I had decided early on to have a multidimensional life.

Either, or.

J W wrote:

The exact same thing could be said (and has) about the myriad husbands and wives who feel tethered to their familial and professional roles.

The all-too ubiquitous midlife crisis afflicting so many who follow the prescribed traditional life of depth is an unfortunate fly in your ointment, good sir.

Where we converge is at your observation that there’s more beyond climbing. Well, technically, that’s where I suspect we diverge, but perhaps it’s akin to a trail forking before both paths reconvene.

I would argue that there’s nothing beyond climbing. Nothing, to channel MacLeish. Nothing, nothing, nothing at all.

Meaning, if such a notion exists, resides in the interstitial space that precedes all named things. Prior to thought, and leagues before concepts of family, god, work, whatever.

Sometimes people choose the wrong spouse and they end up unhappy, but I haven’t met a single dirtbagger that wasn’t off the rails in some sense. That fact isn’t true of people who live traditional lives. It’s tradition for a reason, and it’s because it works to produce joy and meaning.

I love that you’re actually talking about God’s purpose for creating everything but would probably use all sorts of other language to pretend you’re talking about something else. “Meaning resides in the interstitial space that precedes all named things” literally translates to “God, the unknowable creator, has a plan for us” in non-hippy talk.

Matt H wrote:

Its just staggering.  Really, bravo, sir.  Please keep going, for all of us

I love the dig on hippies and philosophical folks in general. 

J W wrote:

It’s awesome that you experience joy and meaning in how you’ve chosen to see and live this life. I’m sincerely happy for you and hope you continue to find fulfillment.

If God does it for you, right on, brother. I perceive no injury to my view of the bright open space of consciousness if you call that God. One can cram in all manner of things when the container has no borders.

I'm not attempting, nor wanting to injure your view, I'm simply pointing out the fact you're co-opting Godly ideas and pretending that they aren't Godly ideas. You could be further grounded to reality if you didn't pretend you were talking about something else other than God, aka "the unknowable creator" aka "the collective conscious" aka "the universal energy" aka "the unmovable mover" aka "the bright open space of consciousness" or more simply put, "God"

Matt H, I'd much prefer you point out the rational inconsistency of what I said, than apologize for something that didn't offend me in the slightest. 

Nothing cured me of any lingering Christianity more than reading the Bible, the most vile and immoral book I've ever read, and I'm including the behavior of "God".

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foolishness_for_Christ

In the russian tradition there are people who are called yurodiviy, meaning something like a holy innocent. It is a kind of special mix between a hermit, an ascetic, a jester, a prophet, and a crazy person. They would reject a lot of comforts, often in the quest to literally imitate Jesus. They would sometimes wear big heavy chains to intentionally feel suffering. They were considered God’s people, and were given special allowances to criticise royalty. I think there is a comparison to be made with the dirtbag. I think if those holy fools had modern climbing equipment, they would be climbing mountains too.

I’d also add in many traditions many prophetic figures climbed up mountains. Moses had to climb mountains to receive the tablets. I think there is something inherently holy about going up, always looking upward, reaching for something above you.

Not all who wander are lost. But many who wander for too long can become lost. So I’m inclined to agree with Eric that for most people family or some kind of corporeal responsibility is the answer, but there is a certain kind of person, someone who has some extraordinary transcendence, who might be serving God in a different way.