December placeholder
to remind you I'm here in case I don't get something longer written this month, or, an earlyish end-of-the-year wrap-up, or, me begging you to please, read my stuff and share it with those you love
I was sick a bunch August through October and it totally knocked me off my writing game— I was sick enough some days that I couldn't even think, much less write anything coherent. I blame the drummer in my son’s band.
I was healthy all of November, but that month had its own better disruptions, like, travel! climbing! Thanksgiving and family visits!
But I’m finding myself at the beginning of a new month saying whining, Already?? December? Christmas less than a month away? ALREADY??
Realizing that I may not get something written here this month, I thought I’d bring myself back to your attention, good readers, by offering some things I have already written this year, elsewhere. This is really what a newsletter is for, no? It isn’t a terribly long list, but it is all the essays/articles I have had published by others and not myself.
Take a look. I’m sure there is at least one thing you might find interesting.
For readers who are climbers, I’ve started writing content for the ASCEND Climbing blog— this is the climbing gym in Pittsburgh where I spend a lot of time. Here is what I have written for the blog this year so far:
“Competition Season, It’s in the Air.” 5 November 2024.
Perhaps the question I need to ask myself is, could I just go and climb some problems and have a little bit of fun? Competitions really are for everyone at any level of climbing. They aren’t only for the strongest, most practiced climbers. Would it be worse to always wonder?
I read somewhere recently that you can’t define a thing as play— aren’t these competitions just a serious form of play?— unless something is being risked. So do I risk it?
“Facilitating a Space to Struggle.” 8 August 2024.
Turns out climbing is liberating for people with many different physical limitations and disabilities. … The founding members of ParaCliffHangers are people with disabilities— Denny is one of them— and they believe that by sharing their disabilities and being active participants in their communities, they can change how people with disabilities are perceived.
“Is Climbing Outside Important?” 8 July 2024.
As humans progress technologically, we are increasingly isolated from nature, from air, water, and dirt. There is also the argument that if we are separated from the earth, we may care less about what is happening to it. Going outside makes it more likely that we will be better stewards of the earth. And vice versa, if we are separated from the earth, we may not be as healthy in our own minds and bodies as we could be. I think one of the points of Walls Were Meant for Climbing is that there is justice in making the out-of-doors accessible to every single person. Maybe a connection to the outside makes us more complete, happier human beings.
“The Soul of the Climbing Gym is Changing.” 5 June 2024.
While some of us can grieve with Miller about the loss of the small gym, or the smaller climbing community, we should remember that they also had their limitations. Gyms have to entice the masses to join and become members in order to make money and stay open and offer even more perks. We wish it weren’t true that they need to be money-making businesses to survive, that this means that climbing itself has become more of a commodity. I would say that modern gyms are more like a mall than Disney World, offering all the members’ felt needs inside of one space, and we climbers have a lot of felt needs. This is why there are all the other things now— yoga, cardio and weight lifting equipment, and training boards— we need them in order to be better climbers. We need foot washing stations. We really, really do.
Another post will go live any day now, which is an interview with two of ASCEND’s fem routesetters. Here is a teaser quote to entice you to keep your eye out for it on the socials:
A boulder problem or route becomes more than just a product when the climber interacts with it, figures it out, their own body making a way through movement set by another body. The routesetter is probably the single-most important job in a gym because of the relationship this creates.
You heard it here first!
For any readers who are parents and/or Christians, I wrote an article for Christianity Today that was published around Labor Day and the start of the academic year:
“Christian Formation for the ‘Toolbelt Generation.’” 2 September 2024.
A certain intelligence is born from paying close attention while doing work alongside others. Whether or not he can articulate it now, my son is learning to solve problems as he builds stairs, lays tile, and makes repairs both adeptly and efficiently. My son’s work community shows him the beauty of a neatly framed window. He learns the necessity of taking care—perhaps especially when he’s required to redo a task done wrong the first time. In many ways, his work helps him grow “in wisdom and stature” (Luke 2:52).
I also wrote a personal essay that was published in an online literary magazine, Halfway Down the Stairs:
"In Stitches." 1 March 2024.
While he talks, I coax him upstairs to the bathroom to clean his hands without doing anything he doesn’t want: running water over the wounds or getting soap in them or touching them at all. If he were still a tousle-topped boy, I’d just tell him what’s best. Since he turned 18, he’s been throwing the I’m-an-adult-now card on the table to trump my mother-knows-best play. Now I need to tip-toe, hold back. I need to let him convince himself. It’s a new way to mother him, without him realizing, all smoke and mirrors, stealth and trickery. He moved out a few months ago, and since then, I’ve realized that he comes over to vent, to say his thoughts out loud and listen to how they sound. He is and isn’t asking for advice.
Also, browse my Substack Archives. Or, better yet, here are the top five “of all time”:
Things we lost in the fire. 17 September 2024.
In consideration of home. 6 October 2023.
After 30 years The Climbing Wall closed. 24 February 2024.
Oren moved out. 21 August 2024.
Henri Nouwen, hospitality, and why my son’s band still practices at our house even though he doesn’t live here anymore. 7 November 2024.
Thanks for reading, y’all!