Encounter #20: Slacklining with Witek
This month's Encounter is with 9 to 5'er artist, Witek Gawlik. Witek is a sustainable energy engineer from Poland who currently resides in Italy. Outside of his engineering studies, Witek has a passion for the sport of slacklining. For his Encounter, Witek shares his slacklining talents in an array of beautiful backdrops of seasons and locations, from Italy to Greece. If you would like to learn more about Witek and his passion for slacklining, I encourage you to check out his story on The Characters page of this website. I have also included a brief written story of my Encounter with Witek below.
And now, without further ado, I present to you our Encounter with Witek. Enjoy! (P.S. If you would like to skip my intro, Witek's story begins at 03:05 and his artistic Encounter begins at 08:08, with a special treat at 12:49)
Balance (noun) : that ever elusive intangible thing that many of us strive for in life
Ok, so this may not be the Webster’s dictionary definition of “balance” but I think referring to the actual definition explains why the above statement is so true - “Balance” is the “equipoise between contrasting, opposing, or interacting elements”. In this current era, so many of us find balance to be elusive because our fast-paced lives hinder our ability to achieve it. We have our careers, our families, our friends, and our passions that we must squeeze into less than 24 hours a day. Many of us want to give each aspect of our life the same attention and care but it is a difficult juggling act. I am one of those people, and so when I Encountered Witek and got to see how slacklining embodies this elusive quality of balance, I found it extremely beautiful and calming and knew that I wanted to share this balancing art with the Encounters community.
Witek’s talent for slacklining is impressive because it is also creative. I can tell you from personal experience that it takes tremendous skill to make a first step on the line. As Witek explains, you must work hard and persevere to first achieve the balance and only after you have achieved balance, can you move forward (just like in life). Witek pushes the boundaries of this unique sport by combining it with his other passion, yoga. With extreme focus, he is able to balance on a line while holding his foot in the air in and with extreme strength and flexibility, he manages to even hold a split on the line. The acrobatics are indeed a testament to Witek’s tremendous athletic capabilities but beyond the athletics, Witek also has a talent of capturing the artistic side of slacklining through film and music. As you will see from Witek’s Encounter, there is something visually uplifting and empowering about slackline as we see these athletes defy nature while simultaneously embracing it; what comes to mind is the image of the slackline athlete walking the line with the horizon in the background.
I am so happy that Witek is sharing his passion and story with the Encounters community because he is an individual who has shown me that barriers in life can be overcome with persistence, dedication, and connection to one’s true self. As Witek explains in his bio, the balance of slacklining helps him in balance of the mind and, in addition to slacklining and engineering, he is leading the way for improved education and awareness of mental illness in his native country.
This Encounter is dedicated to all of those who feel balance will always be elusive and to show them, it is not. It just takes time, practice, and perseverance before we can make that first step. But once we do, the heights we can achieve are limitless!