We hear a good deal these days about the virtues of “slowness”. Several years ago, in Italy, we became aware of the “slow food” movement that began there, and has spread elsewhere. A daily feature on BBC Radio 4 is their interval of “slow radio”, in which, for a couple of minutes every morning, all that is broadcast is some restful sound …. say, of water running, or some machine with a comforting, gentle rhythm. I’ve come to rather like it, and from the fact that it has continued for so long (with the active participation of listeners, sending in their own experiences of “slow” sound) I guess it must be generally popular. The sense that is imparted by all news bulletins, of urgency, rapid change, and the onward rush of time, is challenged and held up in contrast at least for a few moments each day.
I’ve decided that climbing has a similar function in my life. I have a tendency to become so involved in painting, committing so much energy to it, that if I am not careful the pleasure of the process is diminished by the sense that it is just something that has to be done. This is profoundly wrong, for reasons I will develop in greater detail tomorrow. For me, I haver realised today, climbing lets the steam out of this pressured process. I have done no painting today, outdriving to and from Ilkley I have had the opportunity to allow a potential new detail of my current project to rise to the surface of consciousness, where it becomes the subject of reflection. Because I am driving over Ilkley Moor there is no possibility that I will rush into the studio and do anything about it. It can rest in my awareness as pure possibility.
We can become very task-oriented, which can prevent us from standing back and taking stock in an unhurried way, without pressure. I’ve come to realise that those activities which might be considered to be mere “interruptions” to the real business of life, actually can serve a valuable function, relativising, framing and sometimes perhaps even subverting those things we are inclined to allow to take over and dominate our lives.