rearranged my room this weekend

I've been making a lot more art as camp is winding down and I'm taking another week off running.

feels really good to have my bed fully set up and my art room set up. ready for a super productive Fall!!

I'm a pirate

Gas Station Reflection

 So the first day I moved to Charlottesville on December 1st, 2015, I drove over in the morning, went to a work orientation, went to work, and then that night it was raining really hard and I got turned around and left the wrong way from the school. I got pretty lost and I ended up stopping at this Shell Gas Station on Rt 250. Today I needed gas and I stopped at that same gas station because it's one of the closer ones to where I live now. And I thought back to the first time I stopped there and how I felt kinda lost and cold and a little defeated. I was in this new place where I didn't really know anyone or anything or how to get anywhere.

And today I thought about how all of that has changed. Through my job, I matter to people in this community and I'd like to think I make some people's day a little better when I go into work. And I've had several jobs here and met a lot of people and learned a lot and done a lot. In a lot of ways, I've made it. I've done the thing. I did it my way.

Quote to Reflect on Tomorrow: “It is not without cause that men feel the burden of their existence, though they are themselves the cause of those burdens.” -Kant

had some decent talks today

It can be hard to hold conversations while kayaking. There's a lot going on. Sometimes kids just don't want to talk to you. They want to talk to their friends or be in their own head and you're just an adult to keep them safe. That's good too. It can be good to get out of the way. 

Tomorrow I want to talk about friendships and what it is to be a good friend. 

roommate bonding time

My roommate asked me to help him move a mattress and box spring out of a side room so he could take pictures of them to sell them. I said sure. I go into the room and hit the side of my foot on a weird rake and bled all over the floor and didn't help him move anything.

good job me!

i should be sleeping

but I jad a thought about being more intentional at camp. I've kinda let myself slip into a grouchy man a bit. It's hard to maintain energy all summer. But anyway, upon some reflection after what I just wrote in that earlier post 

I'd like to be:

-someone who consistently raises large questions enthusiastically and asks questions that don't get asked a lot. Really find out what young people think about life. That gives me a lot of energy.

-be absurdist

It would be a good exercise to plan some questions and topics to discuss before each day. I really like working from a large abstract starting point rather than trying to piece something together out of factoids. Remember to listen and ask lots of questions. Really listen. Be explicit about subtext and underlying assumptions. 

good moment of today

The river gives a good feeling of forward progress. 

I like my job because I like interacting with people. One opportunity I could be more aware of is asking questions. Or telling stories. 

Tomorrow I want to start a conversation about leadership. What does it look like? What does it mean?

how does it relate to the question: do you tell jokes to make people laugh or to make people think you're funny?

it's a good weekend

a lesson I reminded myself of today was

don't be afraid to try. don't be afraid to fail.

And that made me feel good. 

Time for a Rest Week

The 1600 did not go well. About 600m in I knew it was not my day and despite feeling good before the start, I just didn't have it. I haven't really taken a down week since February. I've taken a day off a couple of times but never a week dedicated to resting. So that will be this week. Hopefully I will feel less exhausted and my legs will have a chance to fully recover. I've banked a lot of fitness, I need to give the body some time to absorb it. When I ran my best races, I was consciously taking a down week about every 4th week. That was also when I was running high mileage and the rest felt like it was dropping the mileage.