Take a look around you (no, I'm not behind you). What do you see? A vast world full of ripe opportunities waiting for you to pick them? Or a grey, drab existence safety-harnessed by modern living and the "golden age" of technology?
Living in a technological age certainly has its benefits. Memory foam mattresses, video-chatting from around the world, and thousands of songs that we don't really like available at the touch of a button are all great things. But, the more gadgets we have and the more outlets we need, the deeper we bury the critical desire that has made humanity great: our sense of adventure.
Our ancestors were explorers who paddled their way through the storms of the Pacific, rolled on through the hardships and menace of the Great Plains, and climbed step by treacherous step to the summit of Mt. Everest. They stormed the beachheads of Europe, wore holes in the floors of dance halls, and made love in the backseats of muscle cars (it's probably where you were conceived). Nowadays, a man's idea of adventure is playing Gears of War with the volume up and the lights out. I can't speak for you, but this certainly leaves me with one lingering question. What the hell happened?
For some odd reason we seem to have adopted the mindset that the world has been conquered. The highest peaks have been climbed, the deepest depths have been charted, and John Mayer has slept with EVERYONE. So, now we all seem to think "if I can't be the first, I might as well not even try."
The good news is this train of thought is reserved for pinheads, Sociology majors, and people who wear jerseys. You needn't be any of those. So what if Kilamanjaro has been traversed? Have you climbed it? Have you been to space? Have you slept with everyone? Please don't. That's gross. (Ciao, herp-a-lerp.) We seem to have put aside our childhood dreams of excitement and grandeur for a life of mere existence.
Adventure is not a grandiose concept that requires consistent one-upping and breaking new ground for the human race. It is simply the desire for the individual to do what she has never done; to break through the modern fad of boredom.
I break the boredom by approaching everything in life with an attitude of adventure. I find hidden rooms and antique treasures in the buildings at work, look for fun and time-consuming projects at home, view every meal I eat as a culinary excursion, and embrace the freedom that the weekends give me. I seek out less-frequented, but equally impressive locales in my city, and try to learn something new every day.
So, go for a hike, tour your city's historic core, take advantage of a weekend deal from JetBlue. Do something. Or would you rather grow up to tell your grand-kids about how many episodes of Gossip Girl you've seen or how many hits your cat video got on YouTube? That Leighton Meester, though. Yeh.
Also,
Song of the Week - Theme from a Summer Place by Percy Faith. I know it's called "summer place" but it feels very autumny to me.
Poem of the Week- It's Possible I'm Moving... by Rainer Marie Rilke
Assignment of the Week - Spend a total of two hours this week studying the history of your city. Then, on your weekend, visit at least three of the places you read about. Knowing nothing about the place where you live doesn't make you busy or sheltered. It makes you ignorant.
Have fun. Read the Bible. Stay dirty.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Sharpen Your Axe, Bro
My friend Christian told me a story and it goes like this...
A rookie lumberjack was eager to impress his bearded buds. Being unable to put down absurd amounts of pancakes or paint oxen blue, he decided to showcase his prowess by toppling trees. The first day he cut down 40 trees while the others only cut 10. Big Business was stoked. Excited by his success he resolved to do even better the next day, so he tried even harder and took NO Xplode. But, to his chagrin he only cut down 30 trees and got diarrhea. "I shall try harder tomorrow," he creepily exclaimed to himself but only brought down 20. He continued this pattern until he could only take down 5 trees a day. He finally humbled himself and asked Hugh Jackman, "Playa, I try my hardest everyday and I'm only getting worse. What am I doing wrong?" Hugh Jackman stopped playing with boxing robots and responded, "have you taken time to sharpen your axe?"
Get it? All the hard work was making his axe dull. Instead of taking time to sharpen his axe, he just made it worse by hammering away.
This is more than just good advice for those trying to start a really big campfire. In case you're dumb, it's a metaphor. Everyday, we work hard at our jobs (or watching The View), we exercise, we spend time in our morning commute, and so on and so forth. The bottom line is we often take on more stress than we can handle and we rarely do anything to unload it.
Now, notice the young lumberjack didn't simply let his axe rest or just not use it for a day. He had to sharpen it to improve. Similarly, we can't just sleep in or take a night off if we want to "de-stress". We must take active steps towards recovery, otherwise we are just putting off stress for a day or so.
How can we do that? There are a lot of ways. The first way is meditation. It sounds pretty hippy dippy, but even just sitting for five minutes a day, focusing solely on your breathing is enough to clear your mind and lower cortisol levels (basically, the stress hormone). You can even chant Hare Hare Krishna or worship Vishnu, but that will take longer. Other paths to not sucking include stretching and mobility work (you'll be amazed by how great you feel when your body doesn't hurt all the time), proper nutrition (blood sugar has little to do with trampolines), a relaxing bath (you probably smell), and reading fiction (stories are great, so is being smart).
So, quit pounding the oaks (innuendo) and stretch in the bath tub. Duh.
Also,
Song of the Week- Black Tongue by Mastodon (it won't always be metal)
Poem of the Week- The Man I was Supposed to Be by John Struloeff (second one down)
Assignment of the week- Every week, I will have a new assignment. Completing the assignment takes you one step closer to the doorstep of Rugged. When you get there, leave your filthy sneaks outside. While simply doing these assignments a few times a week won't make much of a permanent difference, the goal is to turn you onto some rad things in the hopes that some turn into habits, and that's where great things happen. This week's has to do with movement and mobility. We spend so much time sitting, whether it's at work, in the car, at school or at home, we probably sit more than we stand; a bad thing if you know anything about anatomy, biology, or Jedi dodge ball. All this sitting wrecks your hip flexors, making them tighter than an Affliction t-shirt. In the next 7 days, do this stretching routine 3 times. Have fun with your new found range of motion and your ability to flex your butt like a low budget hip hop video.
Have fun. Read the Bible. Stay dirty.
A rookie lumberjack was eager to impress his bearded buds. Being unable to put down absurd amounts of pancakes or paint oxen blue, he decided to showcase his prowess by toppling trees. The first day he cut down 40 trees while the others only cut 10. Big Business was stoked. Excited by his success he resolved to do even better the next day, so he tried even harder and took NO Xplode. But, to his chagrin he only cut down 30 trees and got diarrhea. "I shall try harder tomorrow," he creepily exclaimed to himself but only brought down 20. He continued this pattern until he could only take down 5 trees a day. He finally humbled himself and asked Hugh Jackman, "Playa, I try my hardest everyday and I'm only getting worse. What am I doing wrong?" Hugh Jackman stopped playing with boxing robots and responded, "have you taken time to sharpen your axe?"
Get it? All the hard work was making his axe dull. Instead of taking time to sharpen his axe, he just made it worse by hammering away.
This is more than just good advice for those trying to start a really big campfire. In case you're dumb, it's a metaphor. Everyday, we work hard at our jobs (or watching The View), we exercise, we spend time in our morning commute, and so on and so forth. The bottom line is we often take on more stress than we can handle and we rarely do anything to unload it.
Now, notice the young lumberjack didn't simply let his axe rest or just not use it for a day. He had to sharpen it to improve. Similarly, we can't just sleep in or take a night off if we want to "de-stress". We must take active steps towards recovery, otherwise we are just putting off stress for a day or so.
How can we do that? There are a lot of ways. The first way is meditation. It sounds pretty hippy dippy, but even just sitting for five minutes a day, focusing solely on your breathing is enough to clear your mind and lower cortisol levels (basically, the stress hormone). You can even chant Hare Hare Krishna or worship Vishnu, but that will take longer. Other paths to not sucking include stretching and mobility work (you'll be amazed by how great you feel when your body doesn't hurt all the time), proper nutrition (blood sugar has little to do with trampolines), a relaxing bath (you probably smell), and reading fiction (stories are great, so is being smart).
So, quit pounding the oaks (innuendo) and stretch in the bath tub. Duh.
Also,
Song of the Week- Black Tongue by Mastodon (it won't always be metal)
Poem of the Week- The Man I was Supposed to Be by John Struloeff (second one down)
Assignment of the week- Every week, I will have a new assignment. Completing the assignment takes you one step closer to the doorstep of Rugged. When you get there, leave your filthy sneaks outside. While simply doing these assignments a few times a week won't make much of a permanent difference, the goal is to turn you onto some rad things in the hopes that some turn into habits, and that's where great things happen. This week's has to do with movement and mobility. We spend so much time sitting, whether it's at work, in the car, at school or at home, we probably sit more than we stand; a bad thing if you know anything about anatomy, biology, or Jedi dodge ball. All this sitting wrecks your hip flexors, making them tighter than an Affliction t-shirt. In the next 7 days, do this stretching routine 3 times. Have fun with your new found range of motion and your ability to flex your butt like a low budget hip hop video.
Have fun. Read the Bible. Stay dirty.
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