ジュリアン・ワームさんのインスタグラム写真 - (ジュリアン・ワームInstagram)「I found this picture from 6 years ago, which made me think of the past few years. Back then my whole world used to be different. A World Cup season lay behind me, I trained for the upcoming World Championship. Later that summer I became World Champion, an event that changed my life in many very positive and also very weird ways. . This title smoothed my way out of competitive climbing knowing that I fulfilled all my climbing dreams. It opened countless doors and it allowed myself a financial independence which gave me a lot of freedom over the last couple of years. It also strangely makes people look differently at me on various occasions. Sometimes I feel idolised, which is something I’ve always had a hard time identifying with. But from which at the same time I massively benefitted, in a society that values personalities who achieved success in sports. . Stumbling my way out of competitive sports over the last years opened my eyes to the world around me and often times massively overwhelmed me and still does. Having grown up in competitive sports, I often feel like I grew up on a different planet. A planet where my youth and young adulthood evolved around optimising my performance, where the rewards were intense feelings connected to medals, World Cup finals, congratulations from friends, family and people I had never met before. A planet where my everyday thoughts were circulating around my own performance, my wellbeing, fitness level, weight, diets, training plans, strengths & weaknesses. A planet where vulnerability was something I tried to avoid and felt strong by doing so. A planet from which I looked onto the rest of the world as an interested observer. Looking back onto this time now, feels strange and unfamiliar. . Now, 5 years after stepping back from competitive sports, I feel like day by day I’m feeling more comfortable exploring and getting more settled in this other world. A world where I’m trying to find myself a place in, where I’m trying to make sense of complex, inconsistent and overwhelming societal structures and concepts, integrating my past, making myself vulnerable at times and deepening relationships to my beloved ones.」7月5日 0時52分