A Different Way to Live: On Alpinist Marc Andres Leclerc
I think what struck me most about Marc Andrés Leclerc, the central figure followed in the documentary The Alpinist, was his different way of living.
He didn’t carry a cell phone.
He didn’t seem to have a social media account (though I haven’t corroborated this).
He insisted on himself, and what he wanted, even though it flummoxed those around him.
He lived the life he was meant to live.
The film chronicles Leclerc’s life as a climber, including major solo ascents. He was the snow leopard of the major climbers though, in a way—he shirked the limelight and went MIA when his film crew tried to track him down.
Throughout, we see a steely and natural confidence and competence in his climbing—he finds the edge. You have the sense you are seeing someone obeying his most authentic calling, without fanfare, without the bugling across the Internet that has become normal for any person attempting anything, from ordering an ice cream cone to summiting Everest.
His life is a reminder that there is a different way to live, and one that Rumi captured perfectly: Let yourself be silently drawn by the strange pull of what you really love. It will not lead you astray.