an inquiry…
…from an AMA (ask me anything) on my instagram earlier this week:
inquiry: what is one thing you wish you knew when you first started tying?
when i saw that someone had asked me this and i realized i didn’t have the time/energy to repsond in the moment, it allowed me to think a bit deeper about what my actual response to this question is…what is one thing i genuinely wish i knew when i started doing rope? it’s a hard question to answer because the perfectionist in me is like: “um…everything? how could i pick just one?” like, i wish i knew everything when i first started tying: i wish i knew the names and differences between knots and frictions. i wish i knew there were other ways to “lock off” besides a half hitch. i wish i knew that rope-handling and body-handling go hand-in-hand, and you can’t just focus on one without the other. i wish i knew lineages and styles off the top of my head so i appeared knowledgeable to my peers. i wish i knew everything i forgot from AP physics (lol). i honestly wish I knew a lot more than i did. but in actuality, when you’re starting to learn something new, you can wish for all the knowledge via osmosis, but you instead you must gather it yourself (duh).
so, to answer this question, the thing i really wish i knew when i first started tying was: slow and steady wins the race.
i wish i knew that i didn’t have to rush my development. I wish i had slowed down a little bit. i was so eager to learn everything i could and it was coming so naturally to me, i didn’t take time to build a rock-solid foundation the way i should have. i think if i had allowed myself to move slower, absorb things more and spent more time on the basics, then I would’ve seen more improvement over time than i did. even after multiple back injuries and burnout in my earlier days of tying, it still took me so long to finally slow down. i wish i knew that it was totally cool and fine to take things slow. what’s the rush?! i know a lot of folks feel this way starting out: the pressure to be “good” and perceived so by your peers. that was definitely one of my driving factors when i started tying. i also wish i knew that pretty much everyone feels this way - rushing through the basics as means to an end. i wasn’t alone! but now when prompted with this question, i realized that this is a great opportunity to remind myself and others: slow down. take your time. there’s no rush. that’s what i wish i knew when i first started tying.
what about you?