back seat

    As some of you may have noticed the curiosity payoff has been sitting in the back seat of my life for a little while now. I am here, still driving this train, but there is a lot of other stuff vying for my attention. Sometimes when my plate is full my time management goes into overdrive and I am successful at simultaneously working on multiple tasks. Other times I get overwhelmed and spend too much time cleaning the house, purging the closet, and going to the grocery store. All very important activities. But not as important as spinning my wheels on my favorite procrastination activity - doggie spa day.

The resident participants in doggie spa day

    

    When my brain is faced with a to-do list that inspires ADD I try to regain the perspective I settle into when I go backpacking. Hours of hiking allow my brain to indulge in endless peace. When my only task is to put one foot in front of the other, not fall down, and look at striking scenic views every few seconds, my thoughts go into slow motion and I start to see more. Something that seemed blue may start to show hues of green and purple. ?. Maybe? It's a little abstract but stick with me. Several posts ago I wrote about being ‘in the arena’. To me this translated into a message of courage. Being brave enough to put myself on a trajectory toward a goal where there is potential for rewards but also risks, setbacks, and possible failures.

Grand Teton. Photo credit: Jonathan Q. Richmond

    While I was hiking this past September I spent some time doing some slow motion thinking on 'the arena' and saw more hues emerge from my original arena perspective. Two in particular. First, I started thinking about whether it was possible to push yourself too far into the arena. And as soon as I started thinking about that I understood how important it is to identify what my own personal arena is. Everyone has a different arena, and it can change. I think these thoughts were stimulated by my hiking partner/husband’s reading material during our trip. (Backpacking in the fall means early sunsets and a lot of tent time for reading.) He was reading Bolt from the Blue, a story about a climbing team getting hit by lightning on a summit attempt of Grand Teton. The arena of that climbing team was a highly technical rock climbing adventure. An arena we could see for most of our hike, but was very far from our arena on the trail. But, at the same time - to many people we know, including our families - our trail hike was an incomprehensible arena for a vacation. So yes, there is a lot of individual variation when it comes to arenas. (Variation & diversity - the root of all good things.)

    So what is my arena? And, how do I know if I am pushing too far? When I started this blog it took courage to make my writing accessible for everyone to see. Now that I have overcome that hurdle there are new ones. Without sufficient reflection though I often feel like I am running in place. It is important to think back so I don't forget how much courage it took to get past the first hurdle, and how much fun I had while doing it. I am beginning to understand that fun for me means continuing to push past the current comfort zone. And I am grateful for all of the fun that keeps coming my way.

    Next post = pure science. No more updates, reflections, or excuses.