tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32458949015676491892024-02-06T20:26:15.693-08:00Moments of ExplorationSethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04446068202580618059noreply@blogger.comBlogger109125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3245894901567649189.post-29765396460044239292017-06-08T08:39:00.000-07:002017-06-08T13:39:49.629-07:00Normalizing Fear<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="text-indent: -22.5pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="text-indent: -22.5pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As the
year begins, so begins the process of normalizing fear. So many times I have
talked to mentors and discussed the ebb and flow of confidence and perception
of ability over time. They always say that kayaking is a process of building
and destroying. You keep pushing your limits, building confidence in little ways.
Maybe today you take a bigger piece of the hole, maybe you take the harder
line. </span></span><br />
<span style="text-indent: -22.5pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
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<span style="text-indent: -22.5pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="text-indent: -22.5pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="text-indent: -22.5pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">One day you pass the limit, a casual line pushes you into the depths of a
churning hydraulic, a scrape of a rock flips you as you crest a boof, crushing
you back into a state of fear and building. Recently I got crushed in a
hole. I had become a little complacent with a run that is IV+ and was on the
high side. I took a more risky line above a big hole and didn’t give due
diligence. I didn’t scout, and didn’t really ask any questions, I just followed
a little to the left of where I should have been. </span></span><br />
<span style="text-indent: -22.5pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
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<span style="text-indent: -22.5pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="text-indent: -22.5pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="text-indent: -22.5pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">So it goes.</span></span><br />
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</style>Sethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04446068202580618059noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3245894901567649189.post-53083292747854290442016-11-21T22:52:00.000-08:002016-11-22T13:40:16.226-08:00Baja<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Clancy surfing Rincon on the way home from Baja</div>
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<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXhxHeCp8mXHfGg-E5F4ISx1ni30Vg7xeBSp3h96qqptpHs4-5FQOobdgJmWwr1IQMmHDucnOXTzC0e63168a6y8gOfHSk64Yia3S0RDdnxVXIUpoRVh1J8U7PDGcW9Clv1uPy4CqyHTg4/s1600/BAJA-04314.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXhxHeCp8mXHfGg-E5F4ISx1ni30Vg7xeBSp3h96qqptpHs4-5FQOobdgJmWwr1IQMmHDucnOXTzC0e63168a6y8gOfHSk64Yia3S0RDdnxVXIUpoRVh1J8U7PDGcW9Clv1uPy4CqyHTg4/s640/BAJA-04314.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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The amenities</div>
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<br />
The Sun sets on the first day<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
The Swell comes in</div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
We move camps, but the swell stays consistent</div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
The Supermoon</div>
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<br />Sethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04446068202580618059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3245894901567649189.post-6426541327424206252016-03-31T21:32:00.004-07:002016-03-31T21:32:35.710-07:00Hiking in the Spring<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Sethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04446068202580618059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3245894901567649189.post-27664845244036595472016-03-12T16:28:00.000-08:002016-03-12T16:28:08.611-08:00Rock Creek Dam<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Rock Creek Dam</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg77pl7c9qWNRwq03YlIRfLGTNYWsG0UAUfkzXD1dy8W9fQDu2ln0HcA1wDfhkvL2WFc0Xi4xFVMDqaCZ1DcoicY8yqIgXKd_O70V86Dj1P1p_blKFh82kKumEF4q68zP84iaJV0Rvy-9Ux/s1600/Scouting.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg77pl7c9qWNRwq03YlIRfLGTNYWsG0UAUfkzXD1dy8W9fQDu2ln0HcA1wDfhkvL2WFc0Xi4xFVMDqaCZ1DcoicY8yqIgXKd_O70V86Dj1P1p_blKFh82kKumEF4q68zP84iaJV0Rvy-9Ux/s640/Scouting.jpg" width="640" /></a><span class="s1"></span></div>
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<span id="goog_776327595"></span><span id="goog_776327596"></span><br /></div>
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<span class="s1">This is the story of one rapid: The Rock Creek Dam. Back in 2011 we had tremendous floods and the crew in Quincy went looking for high water marks. I remember looking at the Rock Creek Dam, it was spilling over the top and I wondered, “If Boomer were here, would he run it?”. I looked and looked and thought that it might go, but put the idea away in favor of charging much more manageable waves and holes. A few days ago my friend sent me a picture of the same dam, but this time instead of flowing over the top of the dam, the dam had been opened and a massive 14,000 cfs was spilling over it’s gigantic ramp. At first the force of the ramp scared me, then the impact that I might face, then I thought rolling would be the challenge. With each fear came a rationalization, some experience I could use to figure out what this new rapid might feel like. I remembered the transition on Freebird, the 40 footer on Middle Cherry with a reconnect in the middle, and thought the transition on the ramp will be okay. Then when thinking about being flung off the ramp at high speed the rapid I called on was Big Bird, the 50 footer on the SBMF Feather where you basically run a waterfall with a vail so thin it is barely worth being there and figured that the impact couldn’t possible be bigger than that. When I saw the maelstrom at the bottom I thought of surfing the Gutter in Idaho at high flows and rolling in that big wavetrain, and soon I had pieced together enough evidence to believe in the line. So this is what became of it. </span></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dweXjMfub0UmEIE1tV76XrUMUPPy6rtE6sZzhsCtLrLL6v7zPHdcszpwLUkq56o51c6czNfVk6jPa1BmfJ8jQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<span class="s1">I share this process to further explore how we move ourselves forward and piece together experiences to understand and be successful in new experiences. Sometimes we need others to show us the way, sometimes we can piece together old experiences to understand new ones. Either way, we still have to be bold, all the while using our experience and the experience of those around us to minimize risk. We need to be responsible while still pushing ourselves forward.</span></div>
Sethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04446068202580618059noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3245894901567649189.post-68822844785927869012015-10-28T18:35:00.004-07:002015-10-28T18:38:49.944-07:00The Boof Storks<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
A New Kayak Team.</div>
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<span class="s1">The Boof Storks had just come into existence. The kayaking team, whose creation was merely an esoteric reference moments before, quickly blossomed into a team that had a manager, a marketer, recruiter, and four loyal members. We consisted of a 31 year old PhD Student, Helen, a self-proclaimed libertarian tech wizard from the bay, Lauren, and a 15 year old boy whose dry top consisted of no more than one fully functioning gasket, Louis. As Lauren adjusted the velcro visor she had attached to her WRSI helmet, Louis, the 15 year old practiced throwing his paddle and tucking, in preparation for the 50+ foot waterfalls he would be running in 3-5 years. We were about to run the South Fork of the American, Chili Bar section. “Hand of god me please?” I was asked as someone prepared to practice their roll.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Louis paddled hard over a current between two eddies while one of the girls waited for her turn. Back and forth they went, occasionally having to paddle hard to catch the eddy and climb back in. “Kayaking is the only sport that truly allows you to go to new places as you get better” Helen mused as we floated down. Helen wanted to see rivers, see canyons that you can’t explore except through kayaking. Though a smiled also graced her face as she slid across a wave to make it from eddy to eddy.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">“What a sick boof!” Louis turned his boat downstream and charged over a rock about 3 inches out of the water. He took a stroke and then quickly pulled both of his arms up to about head level with his wrists cocked down, as if waiting for the impact of a perfect boof off a 20 footer.</span><br />
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<span class="s1">We pull over to surf an eddy made by an underwater rock, the front edge of which you can practice surfing. Lauren pulls onto it and practices drawing herself across, turning down stream. She flips and her hands pop out of the water. Her blades both are out of the water, she has a false start, then tries again. The paddle jerks across the water but her hips roll the boat over and she is up! “Whooot Whoot!” The boof storks cheer as Lauren has just combat rolled for the first time. This is her 4</span><span class="s2"><sup>th</sup></span><span class="s1"> time down chili bar.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Louis pulls up to me “What is the biggest drop you have ever run?”. I think back to the years of kayaking, of chasing rain, or snow, reading trip reports, and meeting people at put-ins I had never met, of being in different countries and cold hands, hands that could barely put on a skirt. “Don’t know, sometimes things go easy and I guess it doesn’t seem that big anymore, and sometimes things go wrong and it seems harder than it looks” I say. “I have been injured on class II and on the shore more times than on class V” I pull my knees out of my thigh braces wishing the next rapid was closer.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">“What is the biggest drop you have ever run?” I ask, referring to his skiing. He says something but it is a name of some move I have never heard of. “Funny thing is that some of the hardest things I have done is when it is just me, Paul, and Hallie”. Funny thing, you would think you would do the toughest stuff when it mattered most, on the biggest trips, in other countries, when people are filming or something is on the line. II thought back and all I could remember is when it was me and two friends just looking at a drop, a lot of trust in them, and a rare opportunity. “I quit my job to kayak more” he says. I smile a little and lower my eyebrows, and let out a little laugh “Oh, yeah, is that what you told your boss?” he isn’t paying attention anymore, paddling away to catch an eddy.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">“We are at trouble maker” Helen says nervously. She sees an umbrella, which is normally the signal we are at something important, because there are photographers. It turns out it is just a person sitting on a beach, we still have a few more bends. I can sympathize with the nervous itch, the waiting for it to be over, to have the success, and yet we live for that opportunity, the one we simultaneously don’t want to do.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">“Should I go direct?” She asks. “I think so, kayaking is a fine line between fun and progress, and sometimes you have to learn where your skills end to know what to work on”. She peers around the corner and I peel out to catch the eddy. She peels out once I am in the eddy. We always talk about failure, about letting people fail in order to grow. Put it into practice and you get judged, you look like you are making poor decisions. It is the aftermath of those choices that leads to the real gold of failure. It is the recommitment to the weaknesses that were exposed.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">She flips as she rounds the corner, bashes her shoulder and swims. She pops and looks at me. “Can I run it again” She says. “I think I know what to do now”. Every kayaker has a list of failures, of swims and flips, and bumps and bruises, but what do we get out of those things? Are we more wise? What do you get out of failure?</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Maybe more than you think...</span></div>
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Sethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04446068202580618059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3245894901567649189.post-76477932637203821642015-10-26T21:52:00.000-07:002015-10-26T21:52:11.656-07:00A change in perspective<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Funny how a slight shift in where you stand will change the way you see things. </div>
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<br />Sethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04446068202580618059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3245894901567649189.post-24659338355872310172015-10-12T23:36:00.001-07:002015-10-12T23:39:51.913-07:00Risk<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">We don’t ever exactly get it right. We always
try to explain risk as a standalone trait of adventure athletes, as if it is
unique to us. Much of society is exempted because they don’t brand themselves
as “extreme athletes”, so they don’t think “Why <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">do</i> I do this?”. When things are accepted by society as an outlet it
makes sense. Why do I spend my free time running full boar into another man
carrying a small scrap of cured pig skin? <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Everyone
else does it.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">I am a little tired of people trying to explain what
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">we </i>do. We do what everyone does.
Being alive is a risk, and being fully human is being completely in touch with
your vulnerability. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Every day we should be exalted by the fact
that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">we survived</i>. </span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">But we don’t get
that. Our lives are a miracle and that fact is lost everyday because we are now
so insulated against the riskiness of being alive. People die because a cell
malfunctions and doesn’t stop reproducing, people die because they didn’t look
left, people die because of a gust of wind. We are fully human when we
recognize this. When we see that today was amazing because we are here.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Everything should achieve that, every action
and moment. But it doesn’t, so now we need sensational experience to bring us
back to our humanity. Watch the most popular TED talks, they talk about
vulnerability, talk about exposing ourselves fully and living with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">courage</i>. I spent two weekends in a row
in two very different dangerous situations. The first weekend I spent
completely exposing my emotional self in a rite of passage with the ManKind
Project.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The next weekend I spent completely
exposing myself physically on the SF feather. It surprised me how similar the
experiences were. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">The feeling of being alive. The feeling of
being human, being proud to be alive, to have a deep sense of gratitude for the
opportunity to know how special this life is. That is why we take risks,
emotional and physical, to recognize the beauty of this opportunity known as
life. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyTIvCUDhTyhODUaxozCAfGZJnsGkSUBmb2eK1Z8DYIc5YStbGnMjZQ2T9jA2zuZBsUGVjyzBl9wnkfUcW9tMuAu2ifuXBgngXOsd25sBdlBX45ZnZF7Ej8EGY2yl0pHlxNlqzbjv8Bf_-/s1600/Pit-01822.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyTIvCUDhTyhODUaxozCAfGZJnsGkSUBmb2eK1Z8DYIc5YStbGnMjZQ2T9jA2zuZBsUGVjyzBl9wnkfUcW9tMuAu2ifuXBgngXOsd25sBdlBX45ZnZF7Ej8EGY2yl0pHlxNlqzbjv8Bf_-/s640/Pit-01822.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
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<br />Sethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04446068202580618059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3245894901567649189.post-10776522937434732762015-08-16T19:28:00.000-07:002015-08-16T19:31:29.048-07:00I've seen you dance<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
You might think that once you have kayaked with someone you trust them. </div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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Or once they have saved your life you trust them. </div>
</div>
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<br /></div>
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I say you trust someone once you've seen them dance, or refuse. </div>
</div>
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<br /></div>
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And <i>that</i> is what the cherry creek race is all about.</div>
</div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr1b_pN5162HfydJxxGGGXIfD-ediQAj92hZ3CruxRoGgvUoWKqsACcGe5qetxH_pWiOtvqdjjdCgund-r-uZefKUWGAdXTADt41a7R580PDj146x80eR6C66J-c5Q-Qxp3nukiZLtjDKn/s1600/Cherry-01407.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr1b_pN5162HfydJxxGGGXIfD-ediQAj92hZ3CruxRoGgvUoWKqsACcGe5qetxH_pWiOtvqdjjdCgund-r-uZefKUWGAdXTADt41a7R580PDj146x80eR6C66J-c5Q-Qxp3nukiZLtjDKn/s640/Cherry-01407.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
But there were some other things happening. Starting with a fantastic night view.</div>
</div>
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<br /></div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU2-ZqpAaZWtyrvCBarkzbAokKM_gl-8OB4zaMso9rQQnKj7addT9inJmK5xFPJe7U-eBQ7i_h1-o5-gsuiKvJJVW6xIFn2PqbYkzWIQ_yPpb17Q8QkBywzphyML0g0ckNlFkA2044Cggf/s1600/Cherry-01106.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU2-ZqpAaZWtyrvCBarkzbAokKM_gl-8OB4zaMso9rQQnKj7addT9inJmK5xFPJe7U-eBQ7i_h1-o5-gsuiKvJJVW6xIFn2PqbYkzWIQ_yPpb17Q8QkBywzphyML0g0ckNlFkA2044Cggf/s640/Cherry-01106.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
Scouting Lumsden, with some trepidation</div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo5RBy_j6EElRJ9mkI2Gyo0fVrAcnez5-03cyuDnRLmdfRbWfFx5mJycecWYzH1BAsBj0wy8ysIEyj4m0kcUnT9EiGbecVCkD6fSpbuHlIX8j67rEU-XndAcH3Y80wHa0hyKpyUghHuB9R/s1600/Cherry-01022.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo5RBy_j6EElRJ9mkI2Gyo0fVrAcnez5-03cyuDnRLmdfRbWfFx5mJycecWYzH1BAsBj0wy8ysIEyj4m0kcUnT9EiGbecVCkD6fSpbuHlIX8j67rEU-XndAcH3Y80wHa0hyKpyUghHuB9R/s640/Cherry-01022.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
Paul Ramseth probing</div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3N1RSOYqKKWoqm4I6RbYQU7SS7kVzt9KVxASLZ1LWgSMziBsex0PCmt9OH2UWL98axJTUwBy52QWjrRtxmFNp3ebKbxEhLLVnbIKnAvqECHVC0J5IiuRXLSeHDeK0pIuQNqu75HlTYbVR/s1600/Cherry-01058.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3N1RSOYqKKWoqm4I6RbYQU7SS7kVzt9KVxASLZ1LWgSMziBsex0PCmt9OH2UWL98axJTUwBy52QWjrRtxmFNp3ebKbxEhLLVnbIKnAvqECHVC0J5IiuRXLSeHDeK0pIuQNqu75HlTYbVR/s640/Cherry-01058.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
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</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
Coming out clean</div>
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<div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgywZauPJdM152TfCv26TbeGDtgg4HJXBG2OVoiFMiJXNvOMOwGAzIQyIGNm_GBn7ft8Vhq-GtaMSkD8oOeb6VErc-Ou6dvClpSryFdy-L-fmMuR3bM16v3jbTjA8SbEkwyVzpbhiDmQZQP/s1600/Cherry-01030.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgywZauPJdM152TfCv26TbeGDtgg4HJXBG2OVoiFMiJXNvOMOwGAzIQyIGNm_GBn7ft8Vhq-GtaMSkD8oOeb6VErc-Ou6dvClpSryFdy-L-fmMuR3bM16v3jbTjA8SbEkwyVzpbhiDmQZQP/s640/Cherry-01030.jpg" width="462" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
Watchout!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJY9g0aEgPdH17xBG6zMb8ExucDNKjTyhfNTiY-NzTUYOocMCkeNZdgHRuKAtURMraBBRm3jAZDfKjANH_m6sSf_QRNOmp7I8YfNvIEbrNGh4L2Y6kUB-2cpunlF2EJiqjboazm7mIkSfK/s1600/Cherry-01116.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJY9g0aEgPdH17xBG6zMb8ExucDNKjTyhfNTiY-NzTUYOocMCkeNZdgHRuKAtURMraBBRm3jAZDfKjANH_m6sSf_QRNOmp7I8YfNvIEbrNGh4L2Y6kUB-2cpunlF2EJiqjboazm7mIkSfK/s640/Cherry-01116.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
The Leap</div>
</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgWleOJo5yHajtUytd8XI9QPXB87XS4r4hmyQ8fZyRBeSX4K8kbbLND5XHLineEyed0W9NjoZbCu-gCcfBbQKnechav_9Ks5Ls7Fz9uRvWDV_jXUf_PBZcjGp03OwKHMZTrj4V8wqG__i8/s1600/Cherry-01243.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgWleOJo5yHajtUytd8XI9QPXB87XS4r4hmyQ8fZyRBeSX4K8kbbLND5XHLineEyed0W9NjoZbCu-gCcfBbQKnechav_9Ks5Ls7Fz9uRvWDV_jXUf_PBZcjGp03OwKHMZTrj4V8wqG__i8/s640/Cherry-01243.jpg" width="426" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
See, there are tons of people kayaking! It isn't a dying sport! There are <i>at least </i>ten of us.</div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
Done</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHkDcQX4I25f-YGdoSQzrRjV8S6LILwGZB-B25LZiK6uvL21yWO182FVghilZAFeZ3nmci_aLCqDm1KRlHWmeNejL6InOteSycFQpd5ePfCZO89ezPMC2Gam2SvvU_Qi4DxgPu0I9U9E_O/s1600/Cherry-01392.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHkDcQX4I25f-YGdoSQzrRjV8S6LILwGZB-B25LZiK6uvL21yWO182FVghilZAFeZ3nmci_aLCqDm1KRlHWmeNejL6InOteSycFQpd5ePfCZO89ezPMC2Gam2SvvU_Qi4DxgPu0I9U9E_O/s640/Cherry-01392.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
</div>
Sethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04446068202580618059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3245894901567649189.post-28756056913596872842015-08-06T10:53:00.002-07:002015-08-06T11:01:12.995-07:00Ahhhhh...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisVTzLOR-lqlLqfsoz-7E_9e37sxOPazmNg1RDFigYEpXczz1MMWSjN2Gqt0FMdffHJka1i5MK1iwvfZc8fjBOWfzqa_jHmSWAAuuMZYyj3PFfc6Tkdr-0s0vx7OGdh8xBdzeSw5oHQm_C/s1600/A+moment-00568.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisVTzLOR-lqlLqfsoz-7E_9e37sxOPazmNg1RDFigYEpXczz1MMWSjN2Gqt0FMdffHJka1i5MK1iwvfZc8fjBOWfzqa_jHmSWAAuuMZYyj3PFfc6Tkdr-0s0vx7OGdh8xBdzeSw5oHQm_C/s640/A+moment-00568.jpg" width="426" /></a></div>
<br /><br />
<br />Sethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04446068202580618059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3245894901567649189.post-1670256116443372562015-06-08T20:47:00.000-07:002015-06-08T20:59:06.368-07:00True Value<h4>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Don’t count your life in years, but friends. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><div style="text-align: center;">
Count your experiences by laughs not tears. </div>
</span></h4>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sj3ULCUNESE/VXZdupOA1lI/AAAAAAAADdg/_pdgK3hxEbw/s1600/DSC00263.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sj3ULCUNESE/VXZdupOA1lI/AAAAAAAADdg/_pdgK3hxEbw/s640/DSC00263.JPG" width="474" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">There aren’t a lot of times that you have an
experience where you think “Yeah, that was it”. It opens your eyes to a new
paradigm, or shifts the way that you think about how the world should operate. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I recently led a trip from Sacramento to Bodega Bay on bikes that students and I had built ourselves, or at least taken apart, painted, and fully reassembled. This trip was based on grit, street smarts, and the real human experience. This is what we learned:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The right values
are those that continue forever. The human experience will continue to be the human experience despite technology changes, cultural shifts, geographic and political upheaval and disequilibrium; human life will always be human life. And in fact, all these things just take us away from what is happening in the moment. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkxTH7DvIEcEZy1XqKvI9N2UgebPZ9iEoaqLgDVzVlbzWQjq8wCDfz7jr_D1tckZJcqImAuFl4tlfSKOXc7YfJcTgHx3arDnPElcJyONng7lpetmm5ULshuaJA3_lDb6PfzJjCirlTV4Ze/s1600/Bike+Trip-00466.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkxTH7DvIEcEZy1XqKvI9N2UgebPZ9iEoaqLgDVzVlbzWQjq8wCDfz7jr_D1tckZJcqImAuFl4tlfSKOXc7YfJcTgHx3arDnPElcJyONng7lpetmm5ULshuaJA3_lDb6PfzJjCirlTV4Ze/s640/Bike+Trip-00466.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I sat in a house that I grew up in, with students
of mine. They looked at my yearbook and thought about what it must have been like to be me at their age, while I thought about what it must have been like to be my parents
looking at me at their age. What a full circle it was. To both be mirrors for
the others, reflecting on being older and being younger simultaneously. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YS9lEMN9joQ/VXZdspXWC1I/AAAAAAAADdY/6htRR1yITO0/s1600/DSC00220.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="328" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YS9lEMN9joQ/VXZdspXWC1I/AAAAAAAADdY/6htRR1yITO0/s640/DSC00220.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">We learned a lot. We learned that people are what create the world, and if we pay attention to it
we can create what we want. The most important point is to be aware of what we
want and be working towards it, and don’t take no for a final answer, just take
it as an intermediate answer that is on the way to yes. Here is a quote that we heard from an activist who had made a difference in how people interacted with the world around them:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">“Always make room for alternatives. Always”</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Being eccentric means knowing
yourself and not selling out. Those who are eccentric are the same people who change the world, because they don't accept the status quo. Riding your bike is eccentric. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Riding a bike means freedom. You
aren’t beholden to some beast you don’t understand, and in some ways traveling
by bike is actually faster, because the traveling becomes part of it, it isn't an intermediate step between experiences. It is an experience. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvXF3VMtsnLVfH1bCsrN6aUN5ps7w3FA2Q_zWKZTeajNjMVqofJLtuaRH8R3pvf4zQCIieM_LSsppOp-k6IODbg52ha1L430i3XNe9XJnbEWf-_N8uzwIEI0e7HPybdgMYpmr420G1ZwtU/s1600/Bike+Trip-00389.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvXF3VMtsnLVfH1bCsrN6aUN5ps7w3FA2Q_zWKZTeajNjMVqofJLtuaRH8R3pvf4zQCIieM_LSsppOp-k6IODbg52ha1L430i3XNe9XJnbEWf-_N8uzwIEI0e7HPybdgMYpmr420G1ZwtU/s640/Bike+Trip-00389.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">When we
travel by car we actually just think of that as a subtractive amount of time,
like a blank experience. We often think to ourselves “What am I going to do
while I drive?”, but if we can flop that on it’s head and bike, the biking is
the experience. I started wondering by the end “What will happen when I bike?”,
which is a far more interesting question. When you think like that things do
happen. You smell mint, you eat a mulberry or an apple. You sleep in a kale
field.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IhO4iCZmESw/VXZfqW9b5gI/AAAAAAAADds/rVDtPj9mg18/s1600/Bike%2BTrip-00459.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IhO4iCZmESw/VXZfqW9b5gI/AAAAAAAADds/rVDtPj9mg18/s640/Bike%2BTrip-00459.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"> You take a nap at a diner. It all folds into a series of moments that
are no longer divided into boxes. The traveling is a part of your day. You
celebrate the climb with a snack and a high five, maybe a discussion about the
quality of the road or the culture of the drivers on that particular climb.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">You discuss the experience, which is what constitutes our life. It isn't about your image, or what you post to facebook, or the clothes you wear. You aren't living a meta life, where you judge and watch your life unfold. You are actually just alive, and it is quite simple and elegant. You are just there to hear the tale of life from another, to watch and experience life as it happens. </span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1LYSHYJKhKM/VXZb0er77PI/AAAAAAAADdI/MSrHv-ozDfY/s1600/IMG_3911.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="162" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1LYSHYJKhKM/VXZb0er77PI/AAAAAAAADdI/MSrHv-ozDfY/s640/IMG_3911.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Sethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04446068202580618059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3245894901567649189.post-68007705588246081622015-01-07T23:13:00.000-08:002015-01-07T23:13:57.008-08:00On a Journey<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwHJuNa0uq47i57f22el7yQvVz5ZHPEymsaOyTccScGs4gHGmoMqi0htN5d4z4SYfYIWBa_W27cL-sAp7doBXd9c1orxLMSFvRHlP4Nko97WlQHtXG6WazAnvt3KDjRTsNapPgYvn1H7v-/s1600/Nica+Edits-00600.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwHJuNa0uq47i57f22el7yQvVz5ZHPEymsaOyTccScGs4gHGmoMqi0htN5d4z4SYfYIWBa_W27cL-sAp7doBXd9c1orxLMSFvRHlP4Nko97WlQHtXG6WazAnvt3KDjRTsNapPgYvn1H7v-/s1600/Nica+Edits-00600.jpg" height="424" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br />Knowing where you are in a journey can help you
weather the bumps. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Here is the heroes journey, as written by Joseph Campbell. </span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://mormonmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/monomyth.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://mormonmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/monomyth.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Obviously, the most important aspect of this diagram is that you are Bengal with an eye patch. Never lose sight of the fact that you are Bengal with an eye patch... and a green bowtie.</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">if you have ever delved into anything, this
should look pretty familiar once you think critically about the steps. I have
felt these things so many times, the frustration or yearning that leads to a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">call to adventure</i>, the fear of said
adventure and the reluctance associated with it, the mental barriers you have
to it or <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">refusal of the call</i>, a
friend or guide who helps you into it(suggesting that you should apply to a
job, or run a rapid) or the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">supernatural
aid</i>, the full submersion into a lifestyle of kayaking, skiing, religion, a job.
The list goes on. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">At any time in your life a few of these
journeys are happening, hopefully they are not all at the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">road of trials</i> at the same time. I think that many relationships
and careers get messed up because both of them are at the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">road of trails </i>stage at the same time, when really they need to be
offset, along with other major parts of your life. I found this to be a cool
tool to bring perspective to the journey that is life, and recognize that there
are a few places where the road is hard. There are also a few places where the road is
exulting. If we know that is what we are supposed to be feeling and what
comes next, we can live it fully, and live fearlessly through that experience. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Enjoy the Journey.</span></div>
Sethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04446068202580618059noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3245894901567649189.post-22836985839738156692014-11-30T09:58:00.000-08:002014-11-30T09:59:41.260-08:00ExcusesI'm tired. Bored. Hung over. I don't fit in. I don't like it. I can't afford it. It makes me uncomfortable. I might not like it. I might get bored. I might not fit in. I don't like them.<br />
<br />
The problem with excuses is that they color the narrative of our lives. What we tell ourselves is our story, and how we think of ourselves.<br />
<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYNfrjIGgMcNeus9UWUd3eFT0u9kzj2SPlpu04ZEYHQx8GKpkfofaq0eIV6ZEX7xeLjAS3Gr3mA-K0fYwoWSBo89bOs0pe4gKwt8Q9-wKua6eSXQfTy5VlXuivaJNLrbJ4rh-VzswEfUEy/s1600/Nica+Edits-00637.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYNfrjIGgMcNeus9UWUd3eFT0u9kzj2SPlpu04ZEYHQx8GKpkfofaq0eIV6ZEX7xeLjAS3Gr3mA-K0fYwoWSBo89bOs0pe4gKwt8Q9-wKua6eSXQfTy5VlXuivaJNLrbJ4rh-VzswEfUEy/s1600/Nica+Edits-00637.jpg" height="424" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Being purposeful is, well, our purpose. We have to find something that we want to strive toward and make a lifetime effort towards it. As we progress through the layers of the goal, it will shift, our passions will shift as we will learn, and we will further understand what we are doing here. Most important is to be as engaged as possible in the process and be actively seeking ways to improve at achieving your goal of the time. Maybe sports is a way to get fit, maybe sports serves in the higher purpose of becoming a leader, maybe you are saving people by being a coach, maybe you are trying to slay girls by running big waterfalls(I will save you the trouble, it doesn't work). But you should be doing it to the fullest of your extent until it no longer interests you, and your passion bubbles up for something else, then transition with your whole mind and body.<br />
<br />
We can always find excuses, stories we tell ourselves that make our shortcoming or lack of effort valid or acceptable in our minds. We need to really ponder them. Are they really true? How do they impact my growth? How does the story impact the narrative of my life? The stories we tell ourselves are true. What do you want to be your truth? That you are too tired/timid to run, or read, or engage fully in a conversation, or, that the grit required to do those things is worth the reward.<br />
<br />
The bottom line is that you should be making decisions, not excuses.<br />
<br />
<br />
Clancy, on the Boom in Nicaragua, being decisive on the wave.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG1qek51Cyzh7Q7skMWnUFY4rRLNN06ttuLrutgL85UgoJCXe4KLmx3mijEZR7vdUQovdWiJxQH3dUR7jRffBwhBVMjC65L5UcaUspJ_yl7mmtUW5yH8XTMqwAPLHfO0ZVvzSe3TDWNl7y/s1600/Nica+Edits-00931.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG1qek51Cyzh7Q7skMWnUFY4rRLNN06ttuLrutgL85UgoJCXe4KLmx3mijEZR7vdUQovdWiJxQH3dUR7jRffBwhBVMjC65L5UcaUspJ_yl7mmtUW5yH8XTMqwAPLHfO0ZVvzSe3TDWNl7y/s1600/Nica+Edits-00931.jpg" height="422" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />Sethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04446068202580618059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3245894901567649189.post-64188615685114268922014-10-06T19:38:00.001-07:002014-10-09T21:01:37.892-07:00Climbing the ladder"At first, it is a relationship between you and the river, then it becomes about you and who you are with"<br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
D. McQuoid</div>
<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oZizDCqaj6w/VDNNGzJyVCI/AAAAAAAADXA/8NIQjPKje5w/s1600/SF%2Bfeather-00571.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oZizDCqaj6w/VDNNGzJyVCI/AAAAAAAADXA/8NIQjPKje5w/s1600/SF%2Bfeather-00571.jpg" height="640" width="424" /></a></div>
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Finding a crew is hard. Even finding people to recreate with is hard. You don't want to hold them back, you don't want them to hold you back. Or at least that is how is starts. When you start a sport, it is all about you, your learning, your safety, the river, the trail, the mountain. Over time you start to manage all those things. You become prepared, and self sufficient, and the worries start to dissipate and what is left is you and your friends. You have gone so many times that it doesn't matter so much how fast you go. You have gone fast. You have gone slow. You have taken it easy. You have pushed yourself to your limit. </div>
<br />
You always have to go with others though, and it is hard to break into a new crew, or even find a new friend. Kayaking combines all these things: similar skill, similar speeds, desires, dispositions, safety considerations, logistics, even diet can play a role in how people interact on a trip. You make a lot of concessions to play with other people. So it is of the utmost importance that we communicate with each other about our intentions, our needs, our situations, and are able to read other people.<br />
<br />
<u>Rules of engagement:</u><br />
1. If you are asked on a trip, and you had no part in the planning, don't invite anyone else. They extended the invite to you and you only.<br />
2. Tread lightly when trying to get onto someone else's trip, recognize that they are doing you a huge favor if they let you paddle with them. Trip logistics as well as the safety of the group change a lot with the addition of one person, and frankly, river trips are some of the most complicated trips to plan, that is why it is rare to get more than a few people on the river at a time.<br />
3. Get a tight crew. Go with them all the time. You will meet other paddlers through this crew, but will still be within the safety of your crew, you are not a rando if you are with other people.<br />
4. It is best to go with people you have not paddled with before on a classic, relatively easy run for your skill level. Pushing it in a new group is hard on everyone.<br />
5. You will break every one of these rules because kayaking is very hard to get people to do, when you want and how you want.<br />
<br />
Here is a shot by Jay Lynn, the rare shot of the author.<br />
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Have fun out there, and communicate!Sethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04446068202580618059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3245894901567649189.post-17050539540386886462014-08-29T16:38:00.001-07:002014-08-29T16:39:54.891-07:00Our teacher<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I often wondered why it is that you can teach yourself to kayak, or ski, and why you need a teacher to learn things in school. We certainly need to be exposed to the information, but why can't we just see the information and then start navigating it. Many people are taught to roll and then are taken out a few times kayaking, then start on their own. People can also just put on some skis and have a few words thrown their way and head down the mountain.<br />
<br />
Months and months go by without instruction, sometime years, and we progress.<br />
<br />
We get better and better and better.<br />
<br />
The river teaches us, mountains teach us. It does what any good teacher does: gives us challenging problems, gives us immediate feedback, and makes it fun. We sit in class day after day, and I try to take the lessons that the river teaches, and use that as a model for teaching.<br />
<br />
Sometimes the river is quiet, subtle, slow; sometimes it is fast and powerful, loud and overwhelming. It can be playful, sunny and light, dancing and easy. The snow can be light and freeing, hard and fast, or windy and harsh.<br />
<br />
These are the lessons that the river has, that the mountains have. You must have variety, you must always have your students adapting to something new.<br />
<br />
A river or a mountain can be anything, and is everything, it gives life and takes it away, it is an ever shifting entity but the lessons are always rich and worth learning, even if they are tough. It has all of life wrapped up in it, and that is what we need from a true teacher. We need every lesson life has to offer, every part of life expressed by our teacher, and the rivers and the mountains have it, that is why they are the greatest teachers.<br />
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We can spend a lifetime in the mountains, running up them, biking through them, kayaking down their crevasses, swimming though their pores, and yet we learn each time.<br />
<br />
<h4>
<u>Lessons from 10 years in the mountains(That I learn every year... over and over and over):</u></h4>
<br />
A light jacket is always a good idea<br />
If you think it isn't enough water, it isn't enough water.<br />
plan better than you did<br />
you can push through hunger, but you really should have just brought a snack<br />
Injuries are preventable and it is all about the choices you make<br />
Injuries are healable, but only if you move them to heal<br />
Sweat is good<br />
Have a repair kit<br />
Ballistic stretching is best, and should be done every time you move intensely<br />
You don't want to do a recovery workout, but you should<br />
Intensity interval training makes you faster<br />
If you want to go faster, drink caffeine<br />
Weight train and you will be more confident<br />
It is always better with friends<br />
It isn't one bad choice that gets you in trouble, it is a series of bad choices<br />
Sleep like it is part of your training<br />
Life is short, honor those who are gone, and do what they loved to do<br />
Keep playing or you get old<br />
<br />
<br />
Cheers to the mountains and rivers.<br />
Keep on learning.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://kokatat.com/" target="_blank">kokatat</a><br />
<a href="http://dripdrop.com/" target="_blank">DripDrop</a>Sethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04446068202580618059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3245894901567649189.post-63983939725980070462014-08-06T23:01:00.001-07:002014-08-07T07:13:46.441-07:00Glimpses<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="text-align: left;">I have one story.</span></div>
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Richard emerged out of his eurovan at about 8:15 with a black t-shirt cutoff right above his belly button. A black skull sat prominently in the center of the shirt. His ravaged black curly hair suggested a night of questionable decisions influenced by deep optimism. He began to unload to set up shuttle. Out came a mermaid, a sword, streamers, and shiny decorative stars. We unloaded his life, or at least his life last night. The skull on his shirt somehow was making more sense now, though I think his hair explained the length of the shirt, deep optimism with a hint of absurd enthusiasm.</div>
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As we hopped into the shuttle vehicle he popped back out, "forgot my river knife", and promptly returned with a comically feeble pirate sword. "Got it". Yep, <i>now</i> we were going to be safe.</div>
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On the ride down he explained his choice of vehicle "$250 for rent is just ridiculous" he said. "And a cardboard mermaid isn't?" I thought to myself. But, I had to admit, the man lived simply, and lived the dream.</div>
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Once on the water he would thrust his sword in the air with each worthy boof. </div>
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He was particularly excited before one rapid and he explained it as "A big boof followed by explosions all around you". Explosions? Yep. Ready? Yep. And, he was right. Explosions. </div>
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As our time on the river wore on, he told us of being a river ranger, his dating, his life. He also said that being a kayaker is "like being a monk". I think he meant the river is your church, and it can be a lonesome journey sometimes. </div>
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I met richard, and for a few days I knew him, we were friends, like old friends. That is the river for you, it offers you moments of clarity and satisfaction, and once you leave it is back to another life, but I love those glimpses. In no other place do you meet richard, do you become deeply involved, and just as quickly you are gone. But the memory and the connection remain.</div>
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Cheers to friends on the river, we will reunite yet again and laugh at portages, fear, and the suggested weight limits on racks. </div>
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<br />Sethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04446068202580618059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3245894901567649189.post-32120568121627562082014-06-05T22:39:00.001-07:002014-06-07T17:08:49.546-07:00Too Young to be old, too old to be young.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Things are getting weird.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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There is a definite split starting to occur, or maybe I
haven’t noticed until now, but this generation is starting to split up into
their paths, and they get more divergent every year. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I am 29, own a house, have a career. Used to sleep on the
ground 100 days a year, live out of a car, cook, bum, kayak. I thought drinking stopped being cool when I was 17. <o:p></o:p></div>
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In the mountains, there are a few types of people, and they
clash in their activities. To be young is to go out to bars, to be extroverted,
to play sports and hang out. To be old is to buy a house, commute to work, have
a career, to want a family and kids, to go to bed on time. </div>
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Somehow, there is pressure to have an identity, to make
sense of yourself, but you can’t. Each part of yourself is unique, and doesn’t
necessarily fit some nice stereotype. I own a house(old), act like a
kid(young), go to sleep early(old), am single(young), don’t party(old), play a
lot(young).<o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p><span style="text-align: center;"><i>A day with the Freeride team, during our one memorable storm, these boys range from 12-16 years old and throw some mighty backflips.</i></span> </o:p><br />
<o:p> </o:p></div>
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Do we really have to make sense of this? Why is it so
important that our life fit some narrative? What is our obsession with logical
behavior relative to the folklore of our culture? We all feel like failures in
some capacity in our lives, we all feel successful at other parts of our life,
are proud of who we are.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
We are extremely diverse beings, and spending time trying to
understand ourselves should be time spent trying to accept ourselves and what
we need to thrive, rather than beating ourselves up over what we are not. We
can always strive to be better, but not at the cost of who we are now. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
Are we waiting to grow? Is getting old inevitable? How do we measure success, and who measures it?</div>
Sethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04446068202580618059noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3245894901567649189.post-46934098008242886082014-04-22T20:40:00.000-07:002014-04-22T20:40:00.145-07:00An attempt at romance<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Note #2</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMpdQzh_Y6wXDC2fU46OT8q7nXbtUHidX9QDWnOiC809rCuUldVPjBNb6laqG5zF8FPvm23EEwTl-3KvTiK_8wvS2m4z2y2AqVrZ5DhGKyV8pPCpFQneKcVgExCVfnOgoJda9adsCuHbw3/s1600/Flower.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMpdQzh_Y6wXDC2fU46OT8q7nXbtUHidX9QDWnOiC809rCuUldVPjBNb6laqG5zF8FPvm23EEwTl-3KvTiK_8wvS2m4z2y2AqVrZ5DhGKyV8pPCpFQneKcVgExCVfnOgoJda9adsCuHbw3/s400/Flower.jpg" height="400" width="265" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
Look, it is just a flower</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Just a rose</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
It sits on the ground</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Not meaning to impose</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Each petal a word</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
It can mean a thousand things</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Which can write a script</div>
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That is beyond my wit</div>
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<br /></div>
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It is so simple</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Yet so fleeting</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
But in this moment</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
You can see it's meaning</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
It is meant for a smile</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
That lasts awhile</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Maybe it will lead to something greater</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
That is for you to decide a little later<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
I meant to write this story awhile ago, I was waiting for an ending, so here it is. </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
There is this girl...</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
She is a runner. She runs up hills, she runs for hours and hours.</div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
A boy sees her, is proud that she runs, to see someone out there, Living. </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Boy has a crush.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Through coincidence, girl lives below friend, he sees her there, meets her a few times in passing. </div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Crazy idea. </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Secret admirer.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Notes and roses, left at her porch. Some silly, some sincere, just a few, so few, so few.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
The last note, an invitation. Meet me on the dock at the lake at 6.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
No responses, no contact, no identities known. Meet at the lake at 6.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
The day comes. Heart races. Not in real life. This could never really happen. Not to boy, not to girl.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Legs swinging off the dock, not believing.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
The dock, water lapping, time passing.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Water lapping, time passing. </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
6 passes.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Of course not. It couldn't happen. Not to me. Not to anyone.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Someone paddling in the distance.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Speechless.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Girl arrives. It couldn't happen. Not to me. Not to anyone.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Nervous talk. Surprise. Excitement. </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Her number. Her number!</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
She is gone for a few months. Out of the country. But she will be back. </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Boy calls. </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Boy calls.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
No response. </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
No response. </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Boy finally sees her around town. Girl does not acknowledge him. She won't look. Not at me. Not at anyone. It couldn't happen. Not to me. Not to anyone. </div>
</div>
Sethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04446068202580618059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3245894901567649189.post-7986273658803932822014-04-14T21:41:00.000-07:002014-04-18T20:50:29.246-07:00Finding your soul mate<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlF-pSuVopciSUa_Nr9fW3DTQ4m4CNE0rvbVJBeVnIXLf329_k0K-iObev-ngxaaUnsksYXI0INHT0UqMcNAuAwLtXRHpjkj6mJofIcS_Kvx9VnWqMutKaqSRY98jDrDTgSWfClG914vD0/s1600/Yubagap-09947.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlF-pSuVopciSUa_Nr9fW3DTQ4m4CNE0rvbVJBeVnIXLf329_k0K-iObev-ngxaaUnsksYXI0INHT0UqMcNAuAwLtXRHpjkj6mJofIcS_Kvx9VnWqMutKaqSRY98jDrDTgSWfClG914vD0/s1600/Yubagap-09947.jpg" height="640" width="424" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I just read an article about how the idea of a soul mate may
have caused more problems than it has solved. Our lives are shaped by our
expectation. If we expect to find someone or something that is perfect, we
will always be let down, and be searching for more. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It may be a stretch but the search for love is not much
unlike the search for the perfect river. If we are looking for a river that has
exactly the right difficulty, beautiful drops, runability at many
different water levels, play waves, or whatever, we will always be searching,
and always finding fault in the way the river is. It may have a big hike in, a
shitty shuttle, too many portages, a scary gorge, a few too many sieves. But,
if we are open to the experience of loving each river as something that is inherently imperfect, and
we expect there to be big hikes, scary sections, beatdowns, portages, and long
shuttles, we can be content with those things, we can hold onto the small perfections that each run or person has to offer. Chris enjoying a small perfection. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpSGwyw-PsdP1LfP_Zlw4Dq_LYXzBWd97pAjQjn-HEyrKUNfMSl8gZFKq8-9pb99e-HJq1mtWYRU1jzbyffI-_RGQ5KYqSkN-iXNHubVJgmSOQhbLe6aMJi1mJhaoaJJv6tIYTAS5SZpbZ/s1600/Yubagap-00019.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpSGwyw-PsdP1LfP_Zlw4Dq_LYXzBWd97pAjQjn-HEyrKUNfMSl8gZFKq8-9pb99e-HJq1mtWYRU1jzbyffI-_RGQ5KYqSkN-iXNHubVJgmSOQhbLe6aMJi1mJhaoaJJv6tIYTAS5SZpbZ/s1600/Yubagap-00019.jpg" height="424" width="640" /></a></div>
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Hour Glass.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I have fallen in love with imperfection before. Teaching is imperfect, and marred with many shortcoming that a pure philosopher would spit at. Every run I have ever done is imperfect, every person, every action. Perfection is elusive, which is why we practice, which is why we have meetings and attend conferences, and go out again day after day trying to figure out how to communicate, forgive, be compassionate, boof, scout, assess, pack, teach, and love.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Yuba gap reminded me of this. I am quite a prude when it comes to kayaking, I want low input and high levels of reward. I don’t want my travel time to be greater than the amount of time than I am on the water, or on the bike, or skis. But, on this day yuba gap was perfect. I got stuck in an undercut eddy, portaged a ton of rapids, pitoned my boat 4 times, and it took us 7 hours to complete the run, but I expected all of that. I expect scary portages, long days, intimidating rapids, to not run everything I could run, and in the end, it was perfect, because I expected it not to be. If we can lose our idea of a soul mate, and start to expect, and even enjoy the imperfections of our relationships with others, we can love them fully, and accept them fully, as the beautiful river that they are. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FbMUpBJmToE/U0y33dKN4ZI/AAAAAAAADKc/FpW2FS9jwNU/s1600/Yubagap-09964.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FbMUpBJmToE/U0y33dKN4ZI/AAAAAAAADKc/FpW2FS9jwNU/s1600/Yubagap-09964.jpg" height="424" width="640" /></a></div>
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Entrance Drop.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<br />Sethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04446068202580618059noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3245894901567649189.post-57644795322241647192014-04-13T22:32:00.000-07:002014-04-13T22:32:00.081-07:00Balance<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Life is challenging, and oh so joyful, but there is an optimal level of challenge that we must seek. We can't be complacent, but we also can't be slaves to challenge, to the struggle. We create our reality, through our thought, through our actions, through our expectations and perceptions.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
We walk a line, and we can choose more of either: Leisure or challenge. </div>
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It is like it is snowing and sunny at the same time, which do you need at this particular moment?</div>
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<br />Sethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04446068202580618059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3245894901567649189.post-40191728202729917272014-04-07T21:53:00.000-07:002014-04-07T21:53:34.484-07:00You're almost deadI really tried to write a post about maturity. I did. But then I had a conversation with a housemate and she reminded me that we are almost dead. So damn it, be happy now, because there may be no tomorrow!<br />
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Thanks to Andy Giordano for shooting photos. You can check out the rest of his stuff <a href="http://andygiordano.photoshelter.com/#!/index" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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Here is the original post:<br />
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Maturity<br />
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It has been a topic that I have thought about throughout my life. What is maturity?<br />
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I have always loved it when people say "Act your age!".<br />
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No matter what age I am, I am acting my age, silly.<br />
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I have been thinking about it because I don't fit my own stereotype for what a man is.<br />
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Consider this:<br />
On Friday after school I went and hung out with 12-16 year old boys, the freeride team. We built a kicker and did back flips. It was me, a 29 year old, and a bunch of boys and young men, and we were having a great time. Apparently fun does not change as we get older.<br />
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The next day I went out with some friends and found this great cornice pictured above. No, I didn't land it any of the three times I tried, but it was fun. Are these the pursuits of a man, or a boy?<br />
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A man has responsibilities, or at least fulfills the ones he has. He has kids, he has a job that makes him unhappy, or at least he complains about. A man has troubles, and drinks to deal with it. A man fights, and gets dirty, and doesn't get to have too much fun.<br />
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This does not describe my life at all. I play almost every day. My job is super fun. I pretty much live in a way that is as close to camping as I can get. I don't have any kids. I don't have a partner. It is unclear to me that any of those things will happen.<br />
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The identities that we form now are drastically different than what the past has given us as options. How many generations have really had the choice to have kids? How many sports have been invented in the last 50 years to keep people playing their whole lives?(think surfing, biking, climbing, whitewater kayaking). The world is changing faster than we can change our life expectations.<br />
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So here we are. Playing like we are kids, because we can. Maybe we are the new adults, not burdened by the things that our parents generations were burdened by. We have economic independence. We can wait for love to marry, we can wait to have children. We are different, and that is a hard thing to be because the rules no longer apply.<br />
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<br />Sethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04446068202580618059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3245894901567649189.post-16569316397344631642014-03-08T22:26:00.002-08:002014-03-09T08:57:50.400-07:00Integrity<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
The river flows on<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQsKmX7fDdWfKBJt8a4-RoDXNMTZs5WIEwK7R2roVVSTq8IGGz-owr0v7RsRoxqbojQqu5v7RjYh1RhqEkCx2vJGT2JDkqF3Jr0VCzVE056uhd_ToiJZF5ycsdUyBA4Po9UffmhWcyjAo-/s1600/BCskiing-09558.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQsKmX7fDdWfKBJt8a4-RoDXNMTZs5WIEwK7R2roVVSTq8IGGz-owr0v7RsRoxqbojQqu5v7RjYh1RhqEkCx2vJGT2JDkqF3Jr0VCzVE056uhd_ToiJZF5ycsdUyBA4Po9UffmhWcyjAo-/s1600/BCskiing-09558.jpg" height="424" width="640" /></a></div>
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I have been in truckee for enough time to have some sense of what it means to be single here. I talk about it a lot, with a lot of people. There are many sayings here "You don't lose your girlfriend, you lose your turn" and for ladies "The odds are good but the goods are odd". Agreed. This really isn't a truckee problem, it is a mountain/outdoor problem. I always say "Well, if it isn't flat and warm, there won't be any girls". I don't actually say that, but I should, because it is true.<br />
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With a ratio of 7:3 men to women in Truckee (I totally just made that up) there is a sense of urgency when you meet someone single, as if you should just pounce on them. This goes for both sexes, really. Frankly, there just aren't that many responsible, compassionate, professional, spiritual, thoughtful, intelligent, athletic, healthy, attractive people, that are single. There are plenty of those people, they just already have partners. And actually, when you write out that list, it does sound like a tall order.<br />
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I went out to Twin Lakes this weekend to solidify some thoughts about being single.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga-DUXNZ48hoGZaIOhHLiBHIl0K35iRRh1x4K4AN7ZYGYiFDq9I_m0bDlCjgStYjA8V_CNzR2Eyo5fuFYt1AK_gWR8A1ORe3j8DaebqqHJS7dMhP0uzcBqIWkSmLX0pGGAl6wVY_bsOXbD/s1600/BCskiing-09589.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga-DUXNZ48hoGZaIOhHLiBHIl0K35iRRh1x4K4AN7ZYGYiFDq9I_m0bDlCjgStYjA8V_CNzR2Eyo5fuFYt1AK_gWR8A1ORe3j8DaebqqHJS7dMhP0uzcBqIWkSmLX0pGGAl6wVY_bsOXbD/s1600/BCskiing-09589.jpg" height="424" width="640" /></a></div>
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It is hard to live with integrity in the dating world. There are so many choices: Where do you find for a partner? Do you actively search for a partner(use a dating site, actively put yourself in situations where you meet other people)? Do you live in the moment or live for the future?<br />
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The night helps me to solidify some thoughts<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-UYlFlhlQwKHsXhPwVSt0coYuj3wU7hmZ3kB7qIzX_33kMa_Ob8op_KmnLb2yJzCc0emStzUDVxNXlWmPc7QO57rXeB98cmhoYRWXQvhd7MvwZDna82Wu-yOD4S8YovMGYG-ip9hdGtqW/s1600/BCskiing-09579.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-UYlFlhlQwKHsXhPwVSt0coYuj3wU7hmZ3kB7qIzX_33kMa_Ob8op_KmnLb2yJzCc0emStzUDVxNXlWmPc7QO57rXeB98cmhoYRWXQvhd7MvwZDna82Wu-yOD4S8YovMGYG-ip9hdGtqW/s1600/BCskiing-09579.jpg" height="424" width="640" /></a></div>
(this was my first long exposure at night, and it is extremely hard to focus with no way of seeing your photo until after it processes. One more skill to practice)<br />
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These are the pillars I have chosen to live by<br />
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<h4>
1. The mantra "I accept and appreciate what is and am open to what could be"</h4>
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Man, you have to say this a lot, because it is hard to live by.<br />
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We have the option of being happy all the time, if we choose to be satisfied with what we have. Notice that this mantra is not "I accept and appreciate what is and am frustrated by lost opportunities". Frankly, we will meet thousands of people, and our experience with them will only deepen our understanding of our needs and abilities within the context of a relationship. I am thankful to each person that I have had the pleasure of dating, whether for a day or for years. They have all taught me something about relationships and myself. On the flip side, we can only thank people for the opportunity to get to know them, and not expect anything more, in this way we can have gratitude for any relationship that we are in, rather than feeling empty when we are not in one.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLPz001p_iCzga4OdnCJD4gueNr98R6ynNfTP405qYiRXuc_PTYrXaldXHCaR9QDnAE-_tCz13ieBCnp29LEGMKhUQ3xE4lB1uXclBNov840vJSL7CSLZTMDRngaAMnpcQrcSxTDO_pZKP/s1600/BCskiing-09593.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLPz001p_iCzga4OdnCJD4gueNr98R6ynNfTP405qYiRXuc_PTYrXaldXHCaR9QDnAE-_tCz13ieBCnp29LEGMKhUQ3xE4lB1uXclBNov840vJSL7CSLZTMDRngaAMnpcQrcSxTDO_pZKP/s1600/BCskiing-09593.jpg" height="424" width="640" /></a></div>
It is a long journey, but at least you have your friends.<br />
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<h4>
2. Be true to yourself</h4>
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The anxiety that we feel because of the lack of good options puts more pressure on us to force things. It does not work. Your heart always wins, eventually. There is something to the idea that you should give things time before making a decision, but it seems like the people that I know that fell in love, followed their heart for the whole journey. Love is illogical, so don't try to explain it, just feel it.<br />
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The addendum here is that you should not just be chasing someone because they are the opposite sex. Being true to yourself means being true to the other person too. I always ask myself the question "Would I want to hang out with this person if there were no possibility for us to get together". If the answer is no, then why are you hanging out with them? Frankly, you have marginalized that person, and yourself, into just a fraction of what you actually are.<br />
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<h4>
3. Communicate</h4>
It sucks being rejected, no doubt about it, but if you are thankful for the time you spent together and never expected more, you end up with more gratitude. And trust me, no communication is the worst. It is like a wound that never heals. You just keep looking at it, and sure enough, it is still there. The message is clear, but it was never actually said, which is just shitty. We can forgive those people, but frankly you should try not to be one. Be honest. It is drastically better.<br />
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Being in the dating game can make you tired.<br />
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I live by these pillars because I maintain contentment for this moment, build honest relationships, communicate to those about my intentions as soon as I am aware and able to(which is not always as soon as the other person would like), and have gratitude to those that give me the opportunity to be with them. This is the best I can do, this is my ideal. I don't always live up to it, but these are the pillars I hope to achieve while being single, and while dating.<br />
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Good luck!<br />
<br />Sethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04446068202580618059noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3245894901567649189.post-71559521200016646362014-02-23T18:15:00.001-08:002014-02-23T18:15:37.640-08:00PerspectiveI have been tripping out recently on the idea of skill development. Sometimes it just blows me away what we have to go through to in order to become an expert. It is a miracle that we ever make it. Watching people learn how to kayak, ski, skate, lift, read, write, or any human endeavor worth doing is a long uphill battle.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WHDbIDWnmxc/UwqofDWiwgI/AAAAAAAACtQ/zOQrcGkPNY4/s1600/BCskiing-09508.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WHDbIDWnmxc/UwqofDWiwgI/AAAAAAAACtQ/zOQrcGkPNY4/s1600/BCskiing-09508.jpg" height="424" width="640" /></a></div>
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Some activities are tremendously capital intensive; intellectual skills require direct guidance for almost two decades to get someone to a level that they can even participate in a middle class job. Recently, Time magazine dedicated an issue to a new breed of school that have students graduate school with a 2 year associates degree and a guaranteed job at IBM. High school isn't enough, and neither is college. There is no gimme. You have to earn what you get, or have the connections to float through.<br />
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The idea of "earning it" in the real world is much more complex than in the outdoor sports. We just walk out there, climb to the top, and we "earned it". But what is the equivalent in the professional world? Are some people riding lifts, while others are boot packing, and others skinning up?<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QuGMQUDL-pU/Uwqod0BUw1I/AAAAAAAACtM/r1ciEA5zEDo/s1600/BCskiing-09510.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QuGMQUDL-pU/Uwqod0BUw1I/AAAAAAAACtM/r1ciEA5zEDo/s1600/BCskiing-09510.jpg" height="424" width="640" /></a></div>
Galen makes a transition after a short climb.<br />
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What do we earn? What was given to us?<br />
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The climb gives us character, perspective, gratitude, and we get to practice real human skills. But the bottom line for everyone looking for the dream line: Perseverance. You will make it to the top if you envision yourself there. You will make it to the top if you keep hiking up, keep looking for a way. And you will get knocked down, lose your footing, but all it takes is a short break, and starting back up.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAqL40SDD9njGTW2XH0vCn3JRIX4rwno9bfjVAIHOw5shZxi-83jXmWMkswCWcwWU89SSoKwWXDsHwAQHPWd3YJJM18bdwUdMoVc3Ap8Fcii4gb6hYr85xgwskxTOudo2pr5vFaDcq3IJ3/s1600/BCskiing-09517.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAqL40SDD9njGTW2XH0vCn3JRIX4rwno9bfjVAIHOw5shZxi-83jXmWMkswCWcwWU89SSoKwWXDsHwAQHPWd3YJJM18bdwUdMoVc3Ap8Fcii4gb6hYr85xgwskxTOudo2pr5vFaDcq3IJ3/s1600/BCskiing-09517.jpg" height="640" width="424" /></a></div>
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Galen looks out on the possibilities. </div>
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Kiki Shows us what it is really about</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gXwfZ8EgG7g/Uwqoj2G5CMI/AAAAAAAACtg/wMAtVOEsrxY/s1600/BCskiing-09531.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gXwfZ8EgG7g/Uwqoj2G5CMI/AAAAAAAACtg/wMAtVOEsrxY/s1600/BCskiing-09531.jpg" height="640" width="462" /></a></div>
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<br />Sethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04446068202580618059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3245894901567649189.post-64079178119989754322013-12-23T20:53:00.000-08:002013-12-24T10:05:37.959-08:00A Glimpse<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
The waters are calm, the cold crisps the breath, snow drains away. </div>
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The sound travels through the mountain air, disturbing the settled water.</div>
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A moment alone, looking at the mountains, made flat by the lake, feet dangling.</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FGfOd-1bMLc/UrkOlBNjHCI/AAAAAAAACn8/ASVAWvmq8as/s1600/December-09225.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="334" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FGfOd-1bMLc/UrkOlBNjHCI/AAAAAAAACn8/ASVAWvmq8as/s640/December-09225.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<br />Sethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04446068202580618059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3245894901567649189.post-8830788531522859312013-12-22T11:07:00.000-08:002013-12-22T11:07:22.374-08:00A view of ChristmasIn my family we don't exchange gifts. We don't have a tree. We just have each other, and a few hikes.<br />
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Here is the view.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KxcrH9ogmXg/Urc4HoisJcI/AAAAAAAACnk/ItQ0t8ouXUQ/s1600/December-09206.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KxcrH9ogmXg/Urc4HoisJcI/AAAAAAAACnk/ItQ0t8ouXUQ/s640/December-09206.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />Sethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04446068202580618059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3245894901567649189.post-45882500695764035272013-12-12T11:33:00.000-08:002013-12-12T11:43:45.771-08:00Positive affirmation<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ykr5ugxJ-oE/UpmQhDT74rI/AAAAAAAAClM/CW-SfEqcXyU/s1600/Calm-09100.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ykr5ugxJ-oE/UpmQhDT74rI/AAAAAAAAClM/CW-SfEqcXyU/s640/Calm-09100.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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In both life and in extreme pursuits, we always have two options when weighing decisions. We can look at what we lose, the possible negative affects of our actions, or we can look at that which we can gain.<br />
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On a fundamental level, when we look at the negative aspects of decisions, we box ourselves in. Every action has a negative consequence, or at least a possible negative outcome. If there isn't, it is not really a decision, it is just an action. People trap themselves by only considering the negative aspects of decisions. People will stay with partners because they don't want to hurt them, or they don't want to be lonely. People will stay in jobs because they have financial obligations, don't want to rustle the coop, or can't take a risk on the unknown.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiERu1thTKvvVTPbIwgohMlLcuQFFuSZDHF065T3gguYGkQSN0RQe3T6nwWbrXjE0lkvaTF9L8wy670URCwaBuGrJoB4ZWPsmpit9-vzNDfJRBS-hHHAIbGehmFUOrL_kLgRzm4TaVdbMf_/s1600/Calm-09136.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiERu1thTKvvVTPbIwgohMlLcuQFFuSZDHF065T3gguYGkQSN0RQe3T6nwWbrXjE0lkvaTF9L8wy670URCwaBuGrJoB4ZWPsmpit9-vzNDfJRBS-hHHAIbGehmFUOrL_kLgRzm4TaVdbMf_/s640/Calm-09136.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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We can't live like that.<br />
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Making decisions that involve risk do turn out poorly sometimes, it is not that things will always turn out in the best way, but the risks that we take typically teach us, and define the goals that we are going to be able to achieve. Applying to jobs is risky, applying to schools is risky, asking someone on a date is risky, running a waterfall, hitting a jump, presenting in front of colleagues, entering a race; the list is endless. Our fear of vulnerability cannot be the determining factor in what shapes us, otherwise we will be sheltered and possibly unhappy.<br />
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In outdoor recreation, there is a this idea of perceived versus real risk. For example, top rope mountain climbing has a high level of perceived risk and low real risk. I think that many of our non-sports decisions are like this as well. Real risk is extremely low, and almost entirely emotional, and fear based. I think one reason I do, and people do, outdoor sports is because it puts regular life events into perspective. You are not risking your life when you walk in front of a class to teach. You are not going to get caught in a sieve if you apply to a job a little outside of your resume. You are not going to take a whipper off the rock by asking that person you like on a date. These decisions and actions are still hard, and very real and anxiety inducing, but they take their proper place in your mind, as relatively manageable aspects of your life.<br />
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Bottom line:<br />
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Be courageous, you decide your own path<br />
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