Feeling like a Robot, Bouldering, and "The Spice of Life."

Bouldering, climbing, whatever you want to call it, is probably the best sport, period. Technically speaking, bouldering as defined by a quick google, is climbing, done indoors or outdoors, performed close enough to the ground as to not require the use of a harness or rope. I have only ever consistently bouldered indoors, at two separate locations in Columbus, OH. In September of 2025, I was introduced to bouldering by my friend in college, who suggested we make the nearly hour and a half drive to the nearest climbing gym from our remote college campus in rural OH. Thinking it would be a one off trip, I acquiesced and said, “sure, I’ll give it a try.” I had just returned from living 8-months in Munich, Germany having studied there during my semester abroad. Living in Europe has easily been the highlight of my college experience. For the first time in my life, I was living in a big city, had the freedom to travel, and to develop/employ my German language skills. Perhaps unreplicable in life after college, a semester abroad offers all the advantages of life in Europe, without the stress and pressure of actually “living” as an adult, with a job, monthly payments, and the stress of everyday life. Perhaps a banal example, but I ate cake whenever I wanted. But I also explored Europe with new friends in my program, and friends from college who travelled to other parts of Europe for the semester. In order to travel, and even live abroad, you have to be willing to say, yes, to new experiences. Saying yes allowed me to travel abroad in the first place, climb mountains, and even try ice bathing in a geese infested river (which I don’t love, but would try again without the geese). 

Coming back, I was dreading my upcoming senior year on a campus which spans approximately one-mile, whose student bar ever only has about 10 attendees (including staff), and whose same streets, paths, and steps you walk along at least 4x a day. The same routine, repeated for a fourth year of college creates a seemingly endless cycle of repetitive behaviors and routines. Oftentimes, life on my college campus raises questions in my mind about my conscious versus unconscious decisions. Am I choosing to follow the same daily structure of waking up at 7:30, eating breakfast, working, gyming, working, going to class, dinner, job, sleep, on with a slightly varying time frame and order each day? I mean, yes but also no. Naturally, schedules are not a problem isolated to college. Everyone experiences the robotics of day-to-day life, often in the name of a good job, a salary, ease, and necessity. The structure of a “productive member of society” requires routine, but it can be numbing. Ascending the same steps, eating the same foods, going to the same classes is robotic, automatic. In my opinion, the biggest issue stems from the same unchanging scenery of day-to-day life, which blurs the days togethers and removes the spice of life—variety and spontaneity. Saying yes to random things and opportunities brings the spice and variety back into your life. I’m aware that I cannot replicate my abroad experience at Kenyon, but I can still say yes to things thrown my way, which will always happen, whether in your email, an invitation from a friend or colleague, or some stumbled upon flyer in the wilds of public walkways.

Returning to bouldering, I said, “yes” and we made the hour and a half drive to Bloc Garten, an expansive bouldering gym with a tap-room located conveniently next door. Much to my surprise my first session was completely free, and after a boring safety video and waiver, I was faced with my first VB (very beginner) climbing route. The routes are typically labeled from VB through V12, at least from what I have seen, with the varying levels denoting their difficulty. VB was, as expected, very easy. After my first session of climbing I had climbed a V0, V1, and…maybe a V2? Still climbing, about once a week, nearly six months later I have peaked at V3’s, finishing these routes with varying consistency. The difficulty jumps are very high, after V2, technical skill is definitely required, which I do not possess much of. Outside technical knowledge, strength is surprisingly less important than expected but definitely helpful. I would say the most important skill is hand endurance, because, man, do your hands hurt after 2 hours. I would expect to be higher in skill by the time of me writing this blog post, but alas I am not. However, the improvements in climbing the set routes is not my source of joy when it comes to climbing. The incremental improvements are certainly motivation, but the dynamism of climbing itself (in reference to the constantly reset routes), driving to Columbus, spending time with friends, and grabbing a bite to eat brings the much needed variety to my daily routine. Even seeing new faces at the climbing gym is exciting, it’s easy to make friends, congratulate someone on their climb, or just appreciate the skill of a stranger who climbed a super hard route. Climbing inspired me to try new workouts in the gym as well. Now I do pull-ups, and hang from bars in the gym with the specific goal of bettering my climbs. 

Climbing, bouldering, whatever I want to call it, brings me out of the ho-hum “daily routine.” It is a hobby that I can really focus on and look forward to doing each week. However, the monotonous, almost unconsciousness of a daily routine still exists. How does someone live a life where we are fully “present”? Is it even possible to do so? Stress, money, jobs, societal expectations tells us we need to constantly be worrying about the future. And for many people, society at large fails them in providing them the necessary security for them to stop worrying, even for a few hours. Climbing/Bouldering costs money, and is a privilege. 

Bouldering brings me back to the present, a state I would like to exist in all of the time. But where passion and presentness exist, uncertainty and stress looms in the near future. I think for most people, this is the simple cycle of experience. We pursue hobbies, go out to eat, spend time with family, because it makes us present in the moment. But at the same time, self-preservation necessitates forward thinking, stress motivates us to find security. Having money, which translates to security in our world, certainly makes presentness easier, so sometimes stress leads to presentness.

Bouldering helps me be present, and uncertainty is a part of life. I probably won’t boulder until I die, so I need to continue to find activities that bring me to the present, and I need to say, “yes.” Maybe what I should have said earlier, or more clearly, is that bouldering brings me joy. It is easy to enjoy bouldering because of its qualities. Joy certainly combats stress, and I need to continue finding things I enjoy, small and large, and even in the daily routine of life. If I can’t escape it (which would be the goal), maybe I should embrace it. Passivity however, does not lead to change. But saying yes opens doors.