In Mary V. Dearborn’s recent and extensive biography on Ernest Hemingway, she discusses the “ambitious expeditions”— hikes and mountain climbs—that Hemingway and Hadley Richardson, his first wife, often went on in the French countryside, during their years living in Paris. According to Dearborn, their hikes were typically in the 12 – 20 mile range, depending on the terrain. They had planned a 100-mile hike one May early in their marriage, setting out from Chantilly, in the Picardy region of France. They made it 40 miles, landing in Champagne, and although they were to go on to Reims, their journey was cut short due to relentless rain and Hemingway’s sore throat.
Articles and accounts detailing Hemingway and Hadley’s winter trips to Schruns, the capital of the Montafon region in Austria`s Vorarlberg Province, to ski, bobsled, and luge abound, as does the knowledge that Hemingway and Hadley had fished together, but their ultramarathon-length hikes (anything over 26.2 miles) were new information for me. According to Dearborn’s biographical account, later that May, Hemingway, Hadley, and their guide, “Chink”—Hemingway’s buddy Eric Dorman-Smith—had attempted to traverse the Alps from Switzerland to Italy. The three met up in Chamby, Switzerland, and planned to go over the Alps by way of St. Bernard Pass. During their climb, Hemingway suffered mountain sickness, and Chink got stuck carrying both Hadley and Hemingway’s packs until Hemingway acclimated. Ultimately, they did not complete the journey due to Hadley’s blisters, caused by improper footwear. For those involved in endurance sports, perhaps this sounds all too familiar.
Sweat Equity
Clearly, Hemingway had discovered early on that physical activity not only stimulated his creative mind, but also managed to keep him fit and in good-humor. Decades back, I too ascertained that I tend to be more creative and productive after physical activity; that is, a morning run led to more constructive days in the office and in graduate school. It was as if I had discovered a magic elixir to my personal efficiency and joy, and I clung to it, running long distance for some 20+ years. Then, six years back, I started to run ultramarathons, ranging from 50 – 135 miles, with 100-miles being my favorite distance. There was something for me to running longer and farther and taking in the landscapes across the U.S. and abroad that enhanced not only my mental, emotional, and creative capabilities, but also riveted my ability to navigate and overcome obstacles in my life.
Learning about Hemingway’s endurance feats reinforced my belief there is a palpable link between creativity, well-being, and physical activity. In A Moveable Feast, Hemingway’s account of the Paris years, he explains, “I would walk along the quais when I had finished work or when I was trying to think something out. It was easier to think if I was walking and doing something or seeing people doing something that they understood.”
The Grit and Adaptability Connection
Undoubtedly, artistic persistence and physical endurance both entail grit, which Angela Duckworth, Professor of Psychology at University of Pennsylvania, and author of the bestselling Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance, defines as “passion and perseverance for long-term goals.” Perhaps most authors would agree that writing comprises passion and persistence for a long-term goal whose route is not always clear when one commits to write a story, an article, or a book. Getting words on a page, whether that consists of writing an article, a short story, or committing to a novel, is about dedication and perseverance. There is no short cut to the long run when it comes to creative endeavors. Similarly, you cannot complete a long distance run or hike, from the marathon distance of 26.2 to 100 miles, without a deep-rooted tenacity that helps you to move beyond the nowhere land of mile 33 to mile 71 to the ultimate 100-mile mark.
Physical and creative feats both require one not only to possess grit, but also to be adaptable and capable of overcoming adversity. It is impossible to go the distance—either on foot or on a page—if you are not willing to tackle challenges. Endurance sports put athletes in situations in which they don’t know what is ahead; there is no way to know what the middle or end will be when you begin the journey, as is with writing. Both physical and mental pursuits are full of ups and downs, and when the going is good, flow. Flow, once achieved, is somewhat manageable to sustain. It’s when the flow breaks that the strenuous task of finding one’s way back begins. Although finishing a creative work may lead to ecstasy at the onset, when the sense of accomplishment fades, blankness and desperation often set in. Endurance athletes typically sign up for the next torture fest soon after they finish a race or event. Whether writing or running, when you empty yourself out at an intense level, you are left to put yourself back together, emotions, intellect, physicality, and all. What better way to begin to look toward the future than to begin planning one’s next adventure?
Creative endeavors and physical endurance activities are about pushing through, which requires one to be adaptable. For a story or an article to work, one must be open, aware, and not attached to any one outcome. Writers tend to learn early on that stories possess a life of their own; in order to get it right, one must be open to the path a story takes. Writing often requires a relentless forward motion and drive to complete a project. The same holds true for physical endurance feats. Blisters? Find a way to deal with them. Feeling nauseated? Resort to plan B in terms of getting calories down. Lost on a trail? Use your survival skills to find your way. Adaptability and persistence go a long way when it comes to tackling artistic and physical endurance challenges.
Risk and Reward
Considering the difficult and tedious nature of creative and physical challenges, what makes people stick it out when the going gets tough? According to Duckworth, people who are gritty are intrinsically motivated. You cannot force anyone else to be gritty. Sure others may motivate us, but in reality, the push and drive each one of us possesses stems from within. Some may not ever need to finish a creative venture; similarly, others may think about running a marathon, but once the training gets tough, they may decide it’s not for them. Doing anything meaningful means working hard at it, and taking a risk. You have to really want it—whatever the it is—to succeed. And beyond that, you have to be open minded to change routes along the way. Both creative efforts and physical undertakings are about taking risks, and risks are often about overcoming fears and subsequent growth. Whether you are a writer or a runner or anything in-between or beyond, staying with it is perhaps what leads to authentic experience and sharpens one’s perceptions. Perhaps our willingness to take risks is what leads us into the next chapter of our lives, in which fear is not a barrier to avoid, but one to transcend.
During his lifetime, Hemingway wrote seven novels, six collections of short stories, and two works of non-fiction. Posthumously, three novels, four collections of short stories, and three autobiographical works were published. Although his mental and physical decline as he aged was tragic, when he was at his best, most of his writings revolved around his adventures and experiences: fishing trips, hunting trips, hikes, bullfights, travel abroad and through the states. Movement, creativity, and grit fueled Hemingway’s writing career, which in turn inspired generations not only to try their hand at writing, but to get out and explore the likes of Paris, Italy, Spain, Africa, as well as Wyoming, Michigan, and the Florida Keys. While it was Hemingway’s words that moved and challenged readers emotionally, it was perhaps the physical feats he documented and pursued that inspired many to engage in their own adventures on sea and land. It’s possible intense physical activity provides a route into the creative mind, or perhaps the creative mind, once encumbered, craves the physical as a means to lose time, space, and delve into a realm where being is all that exists. This writer/endurance runner believes in the power of the physical as a vehicle to reach one’s creative potential, where focus, flow, well-being, and productivity abound.