So much reading, not much writing...

Since I last posted asking for your thoughts on topics to write about I have been furiously working behind the scenes researching new ideas. Thank you for all of your feedback! It’s great to hear from all of you (some publically, some privately). I just wanted to post briefly on what I have been working on and let you know that you will see more articles soon.

Per Trevor’s comment about interviewing someone I have recently contacted a local climber and post-doc, Rachel Steinberg, who recently released her dissertation research titled, “Mindfulness, psychological well-being, and rock climbing: an exploration of mindfulness in rock climbers and the potential for psychological benefit.” I had a great time meeting with her and learning more about her research and what has come out of it. I’ll be posting a summary of our conversation very shortly.

I was also intrigued by Dana’s comments about becoming a “top rope princess” and wondering about the interpersonal play between climbing partners. I’m in the middle of reading research by social psychologist, Eli J. Finkel, who has studied the give and take interplay between romantic partners swapping leads so to speak and I’m trying to see if and how it might transfer over into climbing relationships.

And lastly I’m also looking into Ann’s question about how to still grow if climbing isn’t your only sport. It made me think about personality traits and how some of us lean towards singular pursuits and some of us lean towards lots of different activities. This lead me to look into Suzanne Brue’s work on “The 8 Colors of Fitness” spelling out different Fitness personality types based on the Meyers Briggs personality tests.

So thanks again for all of your ideas! Please keep them coming and I will look into them. What I am realizing is that while the research on climbing psychology may be limited there is tons of other psychological research out there that corresponds and relates to climbing without realizing it. More soon!