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Staring at a picture of the Cuernos Del Paine, in Chile, I asked myself a seemingly insignificant question: “Why do I love rock climbing?” The answer, as you will see, is slightly more complicated than the six words that comprise the inquisition.

1. I love climbing because I love the outdoors. I love the outdoors because: a) it’s beautiful and captivating to look at, b) it gives me a “smallness of self” perspective, and c) it reminds me that the world was not created by chance.

2. I love climbing because it is physically challenging. Tough routes are tough on your body. Training – whether in the gym or on other climbs – is absolutely essential. Nobody I know on-sights 5.11b, let alone 5.15a, and everyone I know works for 5.11.

3. I love climbing because it is mentally challenging. Climbing requires attention to the smallest of details in body movement. Body movement is one of the most basic functions of human existence, yet we rarely think about it. In climbing, these movements require a climber’s fullest attention; and by thinking about them, he is, in a sense, doing what is most natural to the human existence.

4. I love climbing because I get to spend time with friends. As Christopher McCandless once said, “HAPPINESS ONLY REAL WHEN SHARED”.

5. I love climbing because I love playing with cool toys. You have to admit, there are few sports out there that offer the enthusiast as great an opportunity to tinker with devices with alien names like “ATC”, “Cordelette”, “tricam”, “hexcentric”, and “quickdraw”.

That about sums things up. Please let me know if I have forgotten anything.

I woke up this morning, wanting more sleep. I couldn’t have it. I rode my bike to my part-time job, wanting a car. I couldn’t have it. I want a million dollars, and… (well, most people have to work for that.)

Here’s what this all comes down to: humans are wired with a craving. It’s not so much a craving for *things*, but for *satisfaction*. As I am sitting here, teasing this out, I have time and time again observed people trying to satisfy with material possessions what some people call the “God-shaped vacuum” inside of each one of us.

Right now, I feel like I’m in a really, really dangerous place in life. Let me explain: I love music. I am so passionate about writing and performing – and listening to others play. I am single-mindedly pursuing to achieve notoriety with my music and to play for a living to hundreds of fans all across the world. And I am misguided if I think that these things will satisfy my deepest longings and desires.

This is the danger: to pursue with deepest passion those things which are of lesser importance. There is no such thing as “rock ‘n’ roll immortality.” Every image fades. Even with better technology, what we capture on HD today will only be a small essence of the true rockstar in fifty years.

So this is an admonition and a call to action: a life of value is spent pursuing valuable things – not fleeting things. “The grass withers and the flower fades…”