Being a great guest

Published May 6, 2019  ·  All posts on May 6  ·  

This entry is part 5 of 5 in the series Parkour Travel

This post is entirely rules, tips, and ideas about how to be an insanely great guest in someone’s home. It’s organized into three sections. The first two sections are meant to get you thinking about how your host, and other guests, perceive you. The third section is focused on the day-to-day details of living in an unusual space. It’s meant to get you thinking about solutions to problems, and ways to make travel more enjoyable.

tl;dr: Empathy.

For my purposes here, empathy is the psychological identification with the feelings, thoughts, or attitudes of another person. I’m not suggesting that you must continuously empathize with everyone. I’m suggesting that empathy is a tool that can be used to inform your plans and behavior. Simply put, artfully using the soft skill of empathy will transform you into a great guest.

Why Bother?

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Why? Because decent human beings treat other human beings decently. (Did I need to write that? I hope not.)

If you are not already motivated to improve and to be a good guest, consider these benefits:

Lubrication: If your host likes you, they’ll interact with you more, you’ll experience more of their life, knowledge, and culture, and they may even help you more by driving you somewhere, or introducing you to someone. There is a wide margin of experiences which you cannot plan. But if things are going well via your being an awesome guest, then you’ll more often find yourself invited into that margin by your host.

Pete and Repeat: If you want to be invited back, you need to be a good guest. If you enjoyed a first visit (with your host, to the community, to the city, to the country), you’d probably enjoy a second visit. Notably, second visits are logistically easier because you know the lay of the land. So it’s a double-win if you visit again. Rare and valuable are hosts who become true friends through repeated visits.

Avoiding self-sabotage: Invitations generally only appear when meeting someone in person, so new invitations are fairly rare. If you are an annoying guest, your reputation will quietly precede you, and invitations won’t be extended.

Lead from the front: We are social animals. (Everyone varies as to how much social interaction we prefer, but no one is an island.) So it’s wise to help weave the social fabric by setting a good example. An excellent way to save the world is to be the change you want to see in the world. Be the traveler who breaks the ice, (appropriately of course,) who dives into the distasteful chore, who finds ways to include everyone, and who kicks off the cascade of cohesion and camaraderie.

The Cardinal Sin

Invitations are never extendable to others; Never invite another person to your host’s home.

Invitations are never extendable to others; Never invite another person to your host’s home.

Corollary: Be cautious with social media. Avoid, revealing your host’s exact address, or the details of their private life.

Here are cringe-worthy examples I’ve seen: Someone you’re training with needs to use the bathroom? Someone needs a place to stash their belongings? A place to shower? A place to crash for the night? No, no, no and no. You should always and forever consider yourself a guest. Guests are, by definition, not the host and only the host can invite others.

Treat your host’s home like a magic kingdom. It’s a rare privilege, reserved for the select few, to even know where it is located, let alone be permitted to glimpse the interior. Only your host may pierce that veil and reveal the kingdom to those whom they alone choose.

I’ve spoken to many people, and there are differing views held by persons in the guest role. Some incorrectly believe that a guest’s behavior may change, pushing, or crossing, the boundaries I’m describing, based on the host and the situation. (Pro-tip: Be the host and then you can do whatever you want. Until then, you are a guest.) The guest’s role is unwavering. Hosts and their “homes” vary widely from open-door, dog-pile, continuous-house-parties, to Zen-temple-like retreats of peace and quiet known to only a select few. The boundaries of acceptable behavior are set by your host, will vary widely, and are usually not explicitly detailed. But that variety in homes and boundaries does not change the guest’s role and responsibilities in the least.

Lead from the front, be considerate, and practice empathy.

15 Suggestions

Be careful what you wish for: Your host may go out of their way to arrange something you didn’t actually want. If this happens, you should follow through with what you asked, enjoy it, and remember to pass your heartfelt thanks to your host. (Ask me the story about the swimming pool in Japan.)

Be predictable: Since, as a good guest, you are actively paying attention to how your presence is imposing on your host, you can work to minimize friction and problems. Once you start to see how this works, you’ll think of a myriad of small things you can do to be predictable. Think about your communications from your host’s point of view. (Here’s that empathy skill again.) Always let your host know what to expect.

Everyone has routines: Your mission is to figure out your host’s routines, and to figure out what their intentions are. (The later is much harder than the former.) Do they want no disruption of their normal routine, or do they want to get up early to do things with you? Do they want you to feed yourself, or do they deeply enjoy cooking and sharing meals? The inroad here is found by realizing that your goal is to make your interaction with your host, and your affect on them, intentional.

Sleeping: The biggest challenge is to tease out when your host expects to sleep and expects to awake, and to try to fit yourself to that. This can be hard to do well. If you wait too long, they will eventually ask you, and it can get awkward if you give an exact response—”I go to sleep at 9:30 and get up at 5:30″—if that is significantly different from their normal routine. I usually open the conversation about sleeping by mentioning what time I need to get up (for an event, transportation logistics, etc..) But, challenges can still arise because sleep is the thing I’ve arranged my life around, and it is rare that I encounter others with this same level of attention to sleep.

Scheduling: Of course, if you have a specific thing to do (event, train, plane, etc), and they watch TV (or play games, etc.) at night, you should join them a little, but then go to sleep. Hopefully your sleep spot is out of the way. Sometimes sleeping on the floor is great because you can say goodnight and head off to your nest. Sometimes sleeping on the floor is a problem if your assigned space is the common space where staying-up is happening. Know your schedule in advance and factor that in when planning where you’ll sleep.

Bed: In the morning, stow your bed by putting your sleep system away or putting the sofa back together. If you’ve found yourself in a guest bedroom, make the bed.

Bathroom etiquette: This is hero-level stuff done by dream guests. If the shower is in the only bathroom, before you head to the shower, politely ask if anyone would like to use the bathroom. Always bring all your own bathroom stuff, (soap, shampoo, whatever you need, you should be able to carry it when traveling.) Leave absolutely nothing in the bathroom. (If there are multiple guests, the bathroom can get insane.) The exception would be your towel: If you’re the only guest, it should be hung neatly to dry in the bathroom. But if there are lots of guests, your towel needs to go dry in your sleeping space. (If you have a tech towel that dries quickly and shower before bed, it will dry by morning in your sleeping area.)

…and more Bathroom tips: Showering at night keeps the bedding cleaner, (your host’s, or yours if you’re using your sleep system.) Technical clothing that dries quickly can be washed with you as you shower to dry as you sleep. Take cooler showers to save hot water for others, and to make less fog in the bathroom. Always run the fan. Next, imagine you are being timed while in the bathroom. …and imagine there’s a line of people waiting. …and then imagine yourself waiting desperately in that line to use the bathroom. If there are many guests, get yourself presentable as quickly as possible, and then crack the door while finishing up the things you can do while dressed. Most people will knock on the door if it is cracked open. You can then pause your work to politely step out for them.

If you are handy: Fix things. But only if you are absolutely sure you can succeed! Sometimes you can just leave things a touch more organized, more clean, or less broken, then when you arrived. Do not make a big deal of it nor point out what you’ve done.

Disappear during the day: Not only you body, but all your stuff too, should disappear! Either carry everything with you whenever you leave, or have a large bag to leave at your host’s. (There are large, packable duffels that take up little space when stuffed.) This enables your host to move all your stuff easily if needed. (It also tends to keep children and pets out of your stuff.) If you do this well, instead of your host feeling like you’re there for three days, it’s more like three, separate, one-night visits; They have fun sharing a meal, some conversation, then everyone’s asleep, and then it feels like your visit ends in the morning.

Refrigerators: Use the fridge, but remove all of your stuff. Seriously, no one will eat your left-overs, (except obviously useful items like eggs.) If your host gives you a tour of the fridge, (literally, or by mentioning it in passing,) then do eat/drink their stuff. If they do not mention it, do not touch their stuff. Mastery level: change your eating habits so you don’t eat breakfast. Find your lunches and dinners out-and-about and place zero food-load on your host. Then, if they want to eat socially, you can add that back in.

Not seen and not heard: By default you should be invisible, and as quiet as a mouse. Make no noise, don’t watch TV, play games, etc. Let your host lead. If they want to interact, make noise, watch TV, playing games, etc., then join in!

Before arrival: Tell your host how and when you are arriving (“My train gets in at 4:30, so it will be about 5 by the time I get to your place by subway.”) This way they know when to expect you, and that you are not expecting them to pick you up. Then, if they want to offer you a ride, (or whatever,) they can. You should always be thinking: All I need is shelter and a bathroom; Anything else is icing on the cake. (wifi? electric power?! food?!! …omg awesome!)

Intentional updates: Your host should always know when to next expect to hear from you; This means you make the effort, not that you nag them. When you leave for the day you might say, “I’m not sure what time I’ll be back. I’ll send you a message after lunch.” …or, “I’m going to be late this evening, I’m having dinner with so-and-so.”

Oops happens: When things go wrong, own up to it immediately. If you break something, tell your host. However, if you ask, “can I fix/replace this,” most people will lie and say to not worry about it. Instead, you must first figure out how to fix/replace it, and say, “I see there’s a home depot across town. After breakfast I’ll take the subway over and get another one of these.” Sure, you will miss the morning of the event you came to attend (!), but you broke it and you should be the one who misses half a day fixing it. You’ll learn a hard lesson and be a better person for it.

Review: After each visit, take the time to think about what went well, what went badly, and wether your visit matched up with your expectations. Continuous improvement is the key!

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Daily steps of weight tracking

Published May 4, 2019  ·  All posts on May 4  ·  

My weight fluctuates a lot during the day, and day-to-day. So I picked a consistence time and procedure. I try not to over-think it, and simply do the same thing each time, generally, in the morning after I go to the bathroom.

After doing this for a few years, I no longer care about the fluctuations. The whole point of this is to get a handle on the trends. The individual jumping around of the numbers is irrelevant. Once you see the numbers jump all over the place for a few weeks, you learn to stop caring about what the scale says on any given day.

My scale measures in 2/10’s of pounds. So I can get “123.4” or “123.6”. It’s digital, has huge numbers, and it lives right in the open in the bathroom where I can just step on it at any time. This is important as it removes all possible “friction” to weighing myself. I don’t even need to slide the scale out to step on it.

Next to the scale hangs a tailor’s tape measure. I use the metric scale on the tape since that gives me centimeters and tenths. (If I used the inches scale, I’d have to convert the 1/8’s of inches into decimals, so it’s easier to get 4 digits from the metric side.)

I step on the scale and grab the tape measure. By the time I look down, the scale is done deciding my weight. I step off scale and measure the largest circumference. This requires honesty, but is very easy to do once I did it a few times: I just relax, let it all hang out, and slowly let the tape measure slip longer as I try to slip it down around my waist. (I suppose, that some day, when I have a “waist” in the proper definition, I’ll have to tweak my method. That will be a great problem to have.)

I might get 232.8 pounds– I just remember 2 3 2 8.
I might get 110.7 centimeters– I just remember 1 1 0 7.
…and I walk out of the bathroom mumbling, “2 3 2 8 1 1 0 7”

In subsequent posts I’ll go into what I do with the numbers in terms of math, spreadsheets and why the units are irrelevant. But for now, that’s the data capture that I try to do every day. It’s fast and easy. Step on scale, measure “waist”, and record eight digits.

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What feels right is probably wrong

Published May 3, 2019  ·  All posts on May 3  ·  

This leads me to the point I wish above all to emphasize, namely, that when a person has reached a given stage of unsatisfactory use and functioning, his habit of ‘end-gaining’ will prove to be the impeding factor in his attempts to profit by any teaching method whatsoever. Ordinary teaching methods, in whatever sphere, cannot deal with this impeding factor, indeed, they tend actually to encourage ‘end-gaining.’ The instruction given to the golfer of our illustration to keep his eyes on the ball is typical of the kind of specific instruction given by teachers generally for the purpose of eradicating specific defects in their pupils, and, as we have seen in this case, this instruction was a stimulus to him to try harder than ever to gain his end, and so to misdirect his efforts worse than ever.

~ FM Alexander, The Use of the Self, pp66-67, 1932 (emphasis added)

I think there’s a lot more context necessary for that to make sense. One could go read the book; It’s small. But setting that aside for the moment.

Alexander raises the important point that what feels right may in fact be wrong. So the harder I try to do something correctly, by trying to do what feels right, the more likely I am to reinforce doing what is wrong. This starts to make more sense once I understood that the Brain is a Multi-layer Prediction Model. Once something is modeled incorrectly—when I move this way, it feels right—it’s going to be really difficult to change that model.

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Quadrupedal Movement

Published May 2, 2019  ·  All posts on May 2  ·  

This entry is part 71 of 72 in the series My Journey

Quadrupedal Movement (QM) is a diverse collection of movements using both hands and feet on the ground to support one’s weight.

QM is almost always done using just the feet, and not the knees, since our knees are not capable of taking prolonged usage or impact. That said, there are some small-size, low-impact, movements using various surfaces of the knees, lower legs, buttocks, and thighs which integrate well with the usual hands-and-feet-only QM.

There are countless variations of QM. Many variations are physically demanding, but many are drastically easier than the more usual bipedal movements: Using a railing with your hands for balance and support as you ascend stairs, using walking sticks and canes, and “scrambling” on hands and feet up steep slopes, are all common variations of QM.

Start here https://gmb.io/locomotion/

slip:4ugilo1.

…and then take a look at some advanced options, Two Hours and a Slab of Concrete.

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Meta: I’m retiring this series, “My Journey.” Over the years, my blog has changed a lot. In the beginning I had a lot of more random things here and I used this series as a way to highlight this aspect of my blog writing. Today, the blog itself is basically a record of my journey.

Lauren Messeck: Projects, voice over, and play

Published May 1, 2019  ·  All posts on May 1  ·  

Lauren Messeck: Projects, voice over, and play

What motivates someone to blend parkour, yoga, and play into a movement practice that fosters creativity and personal growth?

Lauren Messeck describes her work with the Parkour Visions project, Movement for All, and her personal project, Yoga Move. She discusses her interest in climbing, bare feet versus minimalist shoes, and her background in the performing arts. Lauren reflects on her voice over work, and expresses her passion for helping people to rediscover play.

I can engage with the world in this way that I hadn’t done in a while. And it was awesome.

~ Lauren Messeck (7:00)

The conversation explores how an online search for playful movement led to the discovery of parkour and a thriving community. Lauren shares how parkour complemented a background in yoga and the performing arts, blending these disciplines to create new movement experiences. The discussion touches on the importance of play, the role of community in fostering personal growth, and the development of workshops that merge yoga and parkour.

Further, Lauren elaborates on her involvement with Parkour Visions, an organization dedicated to expanding movement-based programs. This includes efforts to secure funding for community-driven projects, support regional hubs, and make movement more accessible to the public. The conversation also reflects on personal growth through movement, the significance of reconnecting with play, and how simple tools like minimalist shoes and meditation enhance the experience.

Takeaways

Rediscovering Play — Movement and play are not just for children but are essential for adult well-being and creativity.

Community Support — The parkour community thrives on inclusivity and encouragement, fostering connections that extend beyond physical practice.

Parkour and Yoga Integration — Blending yoga with parkour introduces new ways to experience mindfulness, structure, and flow in movement.

Barriers to Entry — Financial and logistical obstacles often prevent movement projects from flourishing, highlighting the need for funding and support.

Fear and Failure — Embracing failure and discomfort is key to progress in both parkour and personal growth.

Minimalist Approach — Minimalist shoes and barefoot training enhance proprioception, reinforcing a deeper connection with the ground and movement.

Certification and Training — Bringing certification programs to regional areas strengthens local communities by providing coaches with tools and education.

Voice and Expression — Voiceover work and movement share parallels in how expression, confidence, and character are developed.

Resources

Parkour Visions — An organization supporting regional parkour communities and movement-based initiatives.

The Movement Creative — A New York-based parkour group focusing on creative, playful movement and community engagement.

Brooklyn Zoo — A parkour and movement gym in Brooklyn that serves as a hub for creative movement and play.

Bouldering Project (Queensbridge) — A climbing and bouldering gym offering opportunities for dynamic movement and community interaction.

Fighting Monkey — A movement practice that blends play, structure, and coordination to develop physical resilience.

(Written with help from Chat-GPT.)

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A grievous error

Published May 1, 2019  ·  All posts on May 1  ·  

“Setting the bar too high.”
“Setting stretch goals with the knowledge that coming up short will be the norm.”

…are symptoms of forward-looking assessment of progress. Assessing progress by looking forward is a grievous error. “What have I accomplished?” is only measurable by looking back at what has been accomplished. This error is one of my big problems—I’d even say it’s my problem. I’m working on it by practicing looking back to assess progress. :) My instinct and habit though is to look forward. Thus, more practice is needed to make looking back the default.

What have I accomplished?
What is the affect of what I have done?
How far have I moved?
How much have I learned?

Such questions can only be answered by considering the change between two points in my past.

The hard part—at least for me—is to keep out the “I wanted.” “I accomplished that much, but I wanted to accomplish [insert goal here],” creeps in through the open door of assessment.

By shifting my eyes just a bit to my left, I can see my personal oath which is stuck next to my monitor. There are a few phrases in it which are specifically meant to help me keep, “but I wanted to…” firmly locked outside.

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Evolution of my field recording kit

Published April 26, 2019  ·  All posts on Apr 26  ·  

Day One

Zoom H4N recorder, a pair of SM58s (didn’t even have pop filter foam covers) with table-top mic stands. I went to the trouble of finding a power cord that matched the Zoom’s bayonette jack (on the chin at the left, between the XLR cables) and had a standard USB plug on the other. This of course only worked because the Zoom would accept 5v DC. One pair of Vogek folding headphones for me. Stand USB battery brick. I kept this all packed into a Pelican case much smaller than a shoebox.

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Open Podcast Directory — A proposal to globally enable auto-discovery of podcasts

Published April 26, 2019  ·  All posts on Apr 26  ·  

THIS POST IS HISTORICAL — See instead https://openpodcastdirectory.org/

When you want to visit a web site, you do not need to search for it in a central directory of web sites. Your web browser simply goes into the DNS system and finds the address to connect to.

Today, podcasts are managed inside a huge directory. But they do not need to be in a directory!

Meet the Open Podcast Directory

If you want to find the podcast for example.com why doesn’t your podcast player simply go find that podcast by looking it up in DNS?

All that needs to happen is for people to put information into DNS—a record that says, “the podcast RSS feed is at this URL”—and then podcast players can simply make a DNS query.

  • create a DNS record for host “_opd” in your domain
  • record type TXT
  • record data is the URL of a podcast feed
  • multiple TXT records are permitted, to enable auto-discovery of multiple podcasts within a given domain

In this way, each podcast’s content creator uses the existing, global DNS system to publish the location of the podcast’s feed URL.

Moving your podcast

Want to change where your podcast is hosted? Simply update your DNS.

Why?

Content creators are currently dependent on directories. Apple’s iTunes directory is the de facto standard. We are already seeing a splintering of the podcast space…

Not all shows are podcasts, by John Gruber
The podcast monetization problem…, by Tanner Campbell

$ dig txt _opd.moversmindset.com
 ; <<>> DiG 9.10.6 <<>> txt _opd.moversmindset.com
 ;; global options: +cmd
 ;; Got answer:
 ;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 15816
 ;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 1, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 0
 ;; QUESTION SECTION:
 ;_opd.moversmindset.com.        IN  TXT
 ;; ANSWER SECTION:
 _opd.moversmindset.com.    86101   IN  TXT "https://moversmindset.com/feed/podcast"
 ;; Query time: 1 msec
 ;; SERVER: 10.0.1.1#53(10.0.1.1)
 ;; WHEN: Fri Apr 26 09:34:04 EDT 2019
 ;; MSG SIZE  rcvd: 91

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Adam McClellan: Business, coaching, and outreach

Published April 24, 2019  ·  All posts on Apr 24  ·  

Adam McClellan: Business, coaching, and outreach

What are the inherent challenges of growing and monetizing a Parkour community without losing its core values and spirit?

35 episodes and 2 years later, Adam McClellan returns to Movers Mindset. Adam deserves a large measure of credit because he was willing to be the original guinea pig for this crazy experiment. Our first interview was a simple Q&A style but in this episode we have an in depth conversation about the cycles a community goes through, the nature of parkour, and the type of people who are drawn to it. Adam explores the intersection of parkour and business, and how the two coexist, before discussing the nuances of coaching children. He opens up about his knee injury and recovery, his thoughts on normalizing parkour to the public, and different ways to design a parkour gym.

One of the things we value about Parkour is there isn’t that hierarchy and structure in place. It’s just you and me, and we’re hanging out, you don’t have to call me anything— There’s no assumed authority, right? We’re just training together.

~ Adam McClellan (21:40)

This conversation explores the growth and evolution of a Parkour community as it transitions from informal outdoor training to a structured business model. The discussion highlights the shifts in community dynamics when money and formal structures are introduced, drawing parallels between martial arts schools and Parkour. Adam reflects on how scaling up often leads to a loss of intimacy and core values, raising questions about whether Parkour can retain its spirit as it grows.

Key topics include the role of leadership in shaping community culture, the unavoidable influence of business practices on Parkour, and the challenge of teaching children while preserving the deeper philosophical aspects of the discipline. There is also a focus on personal injuries, their impact on training, and how physical setbacks shape the journey of a Parkour practitioner.

Takeaways

The growth of Parkour communities — Scaling introduces structure and money, often challenging the core values that initially attract practitioners.

Leadership’s role in community — The personality and values of leaders heavily influence the community’s trajectory and inclusivity.

Business and Parkour — Structuring Parkour as a business introduces operational necessities that can shift focus from movement and personal growth to profit and efficiency.

Teaching children Parkour — Teaching children emphasizes physical skills over the deeper self-exploration aspect inherent to Parkour for adults.

Injury and recovery — Personal injury experiences reshape one’s relationship with movement and coaching, often influencing how practitioners train and teach.

Cultural perceptions of Parkour — Public perception, especially from institutions like police or schools, shapes the accessibility and acceptance of Parkour in local communities.

Community dynamics — Communities inevitably evolve based on the personalities and shared experiences of the core members.

Parkour as self-exploration — The practice naturally fosters personal growth and reflection, often leading practitioners to deeper self-awareness.

Resources

Lehigh Valley Parkour

ADAPT Qualifications — Mentioned in the context of coaching certifications for Parkour instructors.

David Belle Speed Vault — A classic example of the Parkour speed vault technique referenced during the discussion.

(Written with help from Chat-GPT.)

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Flashback to August 2018

Published April 21, 2019  ·  All posts on Apr 21

This post is from some quick notes I made in August 2018. I’m only just getting around to publishing it now, 8 months later, as part of this series. Today, at ~230 pounds, 215 seems like a dream.

—

I’m recently back from traveling to Denmark and France to attend two Parkour events back-to-back. As usual when I’m traveling, I don’t attempt to keep up my normal routines so there’s no data recorded for most of July 2018.

I’m happy to return still around 215 as I try to get back to my routine of “chaining together” my mornings. Compared to July, I’m not as active, but I’m trying to AVOID the, “let’s be super active and try the 100-days-of-activity challenge,” mistake I made in 2017 when I came home from the same events all excited about movement.

Anyway, what about that ratio of 1958? …it’s so low that it’s not even on the graph! This reminds me of two things I believe I’ve noticed:

  1. The ratio lags behind when I’m actively losing weight. My guess is that the different components (water, subcutaneous fat, visceral fat, and muscle) change at different rates. So when losing fat from calorie deficit, the peripheral/subcutaneous is liberated first—which aligns with my recollection that visceral fat is more tenacious.
  3. The best ratio is very hard to find—to actually see it in the measurements. I have to lose weight gradually, and then stay at the new weight for many weeks to see the ratio rebound to above 2000. (Reminder, the ratio is in wacky units of “tenths of pounds per millimeter midriff circumference” because of how I record the numbers. The numerical value of the ratio is of no concern; It’s only useful for trending.)

All comes out even at the end

Published April 20, 2019  ·  All posts on Apr 20  ·  

Weak as I am, I carry on the war to the last moment, I get a hundred pike thrusts, I return two hundred and I laugh. I see near my door Geneva on fire with quarrels over nothing, and I laugh again; And, thank god, I can look upon the world as a farce even when it becomes as tragic as it sometimes does. All comes out even at the end of the day, and all comes out still more even when all the days are over.

~ Voltaire

slip:4a8.

On not letting go

Published April 19, 2019  ·  All posts on Apr 19  ·  

I experimented by letting go of goals for a while and just going with the flow, but that produced even worse results. I know some people are fans of that style, but it hasn’t worked well for me. I make much better progress — and I’m generally happier and more fulfilled — when I wield greater conscious control over the direction of my life.

~ Steve Pavlina from, Do Your Goals Conflict with Your Personality?

slip:4usebo11.

“Letting go” of my structures and goals is good for short-term health. I do this when I’m traveling, or when something unusual happens, (such as having a house guest for a weekend.) Letting go enables me to see if my default habits have changed, as I’m often working on some goal or project that involves habit change. Letting go creates space for serendipity.

But letting go does not get things done. My mind is meant to have ideas, not to hold them. Systems (a grocery list, a todo list, plans for projects, and so on) are how my mind creates the changes I want to see in the world.

Letting go certainly recharges me. It’s the restorative yin to my personality’s default yan.

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Deep dive about podcast feeds

Published April 18, 2019  ·  All posts on Apr 18  ·  

This article got out of hand, and is 3,000 words.  I encourage you to skip around; There’s more discussion of specific tools and how-to material in the last third.

In the beginning

In the beginning, podcasts were simply audio files which people shared directly either by emailing them to each other, or by providing download links on their web sites.

RSS technology has been around for a while and provided a way for a web site to publish a “here’s what’s new” feed. It was soon realized that RSS could be used to provide a feed specifically of podcasts. Software able to retrieve and understand a podcast feed, could then automatically download the podcast files, and alert you of new episodes. Sharing a new show with friends then meant simply giving them the “feed URL” which one would “subscribe to” by adding it to your feed reader.

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§7 – Exercise

Published April 18, 2019  ·  All posts on Apr 18

This entry is part 7 of 13 in the series Changes and Results

Exercise is not about weight loss.

Exercise builds physical ability and mental health.

For me, it began when I fell in love– with a bicycle.

The story of a boy and his bicycle

Long after college, way down in my downward death spiral, I bought a cheap mountain bicycle. Today, I don’t recall what possessed me to even want to buy a bike. I guess it just reminded me of the freedom I’d discovered when as a kid I first set out on a bicycle.

At the time, we were living in an apartment a short ride from a long park that followed a meandering creek. The park has long trails—some asphalt, some packed gravel—that follow the creek, and it has a few, short, side trails that almost resemble mountain biking.

I fell in love.

I fell in lust is probably more accurate.

I pedaled and pedaled. …and then I pedaled some more. …and then a lot more. I literally wore out that cheap, beautiful bike in the first summer.

During that summer we bought a mountain bike for my dad. He bought an hybrid bike for my mom. Then for a Christmas present, my parents and Tracy bought me a nicer bike. Whereas I was previously crazy about riding, with a new, better, lighter bike, I took things up several notches to addiction, and began riding the daylights out of everything.

I bought a “Mountain Biking Pennsylvania” book and started just heading out to ride trails from the book. Tracy bought a Cannondale when she changed jobs, and then things got out of hand—like Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas out of hand. In the end, I was directly responsible for 27 people going to a particular bike shop and buying bikes because I kept trying to find someone who had the bicycling bug as bad as me.

I pedaled on into the seasons. I commuted the short 2 miles to and from my office in rain and snow. I had studded snow tires for the winter. I replaced bike parts as they wore out, and modified the bike more and more until the bike shop owner, (at this point, a good friend,) finally said, “You know, there are other bikes.” It had never occurred to me that I could own more than one bike. he looked at me like the simpleton I was, “Craig, some people have so many bikes, they hide the newest ones from their wives.”

Re-learning to move

The story continues of course. (The new bike is named Beelzebub, and is the first bike I’ve ever named.) But this article is about “exercise”, not about my affairs with bikes.

In the midst of it all, I understood that it was all partly the runner’s high aspect. But also knew that I simply felt better the more I rode those bikes. Sure my wrists got sore, and I became a menace in the local park zooming around and around like it somehow mattered in the grand scheme. But in the process, my body was changing.

Much later I learned that what I had done was change my identity; changed the way I saw myself. I became the sort of person who would get up early on weekends to drive an hour to ride a bike all over some trail because it was “Trail number #87” in a book. I became the sort of person who learns about bikes, then learns about exercise, and then learns about glycogen storage in muscles.

At the very beginning of the bicycling epoch, I was building a lot of muscle. Well, a “lot” compared to the gelatinous blob of fat I had converted myself into after college. Muscle requires energy to build it and then some energy to maintain it. So in the beginning I got a small win on weight loss, just by adding muscle. As my daily caloric needs went way up, it halted the creeping weight gain.

Years later I learned that exercise is simply, generally healthy.

That sounds like a platitude, but it’s not: Even small amounts of exercise have out-sized benefits in your health and your daily mood. If I exercise just a little, (for example, 20 minutes of moderate walking,) then I sleep better that night, and every time I exercise I get a small psychological benefit.

The key point was the change in my mental health: Exercise made me feel better, and the better I felt, the more I wanted to exercise. Exercise didn’t make me lose weight: It improved my health, and I became the sort of person who weighs less. That sounds subtle, but it’s tremendously easier than trying to lose weight directly.

Compensatory adaptation

I changed my behavior (I added biking) and my body responded by adapting. (Compensatory adaptation from Ned Kock is a great, deep-dive.)

I added some muscle, changed some hormone levels and interactions, cleaned up some mitochondrial function, and other things improved. But soon (it was probably about a year) my body had adapted to where its new state worked well enough for the activities I was doing regularly. This is the famous plateau effect.

As I’ve mentioned, I didn’t realize this is what was happening (the plateau). I just bike bike bike bike biked all over everything. Meanwhile I was tracking things in my health journal, tweaking things here and there (sleep, moving dinner-time earlier, food choices, etc..)

How would you implement this intentionally? If you are even farther out of shape than I was at the start, I don’t suggest starting with biking. Walking is probably better, or maybe even swimming. Exactly what you do isn’t the point. It’s that you begin to exercise. Don’t to do in the sense that, “I have to go exercise now.” (This is why gym memberships generally don’t work as a New Year’s resolution.) Rather, you want to exercise just as something you do, and that will transform yourself into the type of person who exercises.

I am the type of person who…

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Nancy Lorentz: Cancer, PK Move, and parkour spirit

Published April 17, 2019  ·  All posts on Apr 17  ·  

Nancy Lorentz: Cancer, PK Move, and parkour spirit

What impact can parkour have on recovery and personal growth after a serious health challenge?

Nancy Lorentz opens up about her experience fighting cancer, and the role that parkour played in her recovery. She unpacks how her recovery inspired the idea of PK Move, and shares her ‘parkour origin story.’ Nancy discusses her thoughts on parkour’s growth and spirit, PK Move’s current goals, and finishes with her insights on how to attract older individuals to parkour.

[A]t the time of the diagnosis and going forward from there, I was not thinking about how parkour was part of this until afterward. I think once you are in that situation, you’re just going through the steps and getting through the treatment and what you have to do— the surgery or whatever. The fact is that, it did occur to me afterward— I thought, oh my gosh, [yes.] I really do say that parkour saved my life.

~ Nancy Lorentz (5:13)

Nancy Lorenz shares her personal journey of surviving cancer and how parkour became a crucial part of her recovery. She describes how the physical and mental resilience built through parkour helped her endure treatment and how this experience inspired her to co-found PK Move, a nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing parkour to underserved communities. The conversation covers her introduction to parkour, the challenges she faced during and after her illness, and how the supportive community around her played a significant role in her healing process.

The discussion highlights the mission and vision of PK Move, which focuses on providing adaptive parkour training to individuals who may face barriers to participating in traditional gym environments. Nancy details how PK Move brings parkour directly to people in their own communities, particularly targeting older adults and cancer survivors. Additionally, she reflects on the broader impact of parkour and the importance of preserving its core philosophy as it expands into mainstream fitness spaces.

Takeaways

Parkour and Recovery — Parkour played a crucial role in aiding physical and mental recovery from cancer.

Community Support — A supportive parkour community can make a significant difference during personal health battles.

Inspiration for PK Move — Personal experiences with illness and recovery inspired the founding of PK Move to make parkour more accessible.

Target Audience — PK Move focuses on underserved communities, including older adults and those facing physical challenges.

Health Benefits — Parkour can improve muscle mass, mental resilience, and overall health, which are important for aging populations and cancer survivors.

Adaptive Training — PK Move adapts parkour training for people with mobility issues, ensuring inclusivity.

Expanding Parkour — The future of parkour may involve integration into mainstream fitness, but maintaining its philosophical roots is essential.

Overcoming Stereotypes — Educating the public and challenging misconceptions about parkour can help broaden its appeal to different demographics.

Strategic Growth — PK Move aims to scale its PK Silver program to reach more older adults, emphasizing fall prevention and functional fitness.

Resources

PK Move — A nonprofit organization co-founded by Nancy Lorenz that focuses on bringing adaptive parkour to underserved communities.

Urban Evolution — A parkour gym in Alexandria where Nancy Lorenz trained and found support during her recovery.

Forever Young Program — A UK-based parkour program focused on older adults, which inspired the PK Silver initiative.

National Breast Center Foundation — A foundation supported by PK Move’s fundraising events, helping underinsured women receive cancer care.

Tempest Freerunning Academy — A welcoming parkour gym that left a lasting impression on Nancy Lorenz during her travels.

(Written with help from Chat-GPT.)

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All things

Published April 17, 2019  ·  All posts on Apr 17  ·  

One day I’ll be a filmmaker! One day I’ll be a famous artist! One day I’ll be a CEO! One day I’ll be a Creative Director! One day I’ll be a Venture Capitalist! And so forth.

Then you get to a certain age and you realize that the time for “One Day” is over. You’re either doing it, or you’re not. And if you’re not, a feeling of bitter disappointment starts hitting you deep into the marrow. Which explains why we all know so many people in their 30s and 40s having mid-life crisis’.

~ Hugh MacLeod

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Whether I’m different, or have already passed through that, I know not. What I can tell you is that my problem is not at all a feeling of not doing what I want to do.

My problem is the feeling that I am doing too many different things. All things I’ve chosen. All things which I’m passionate about. All things which are cool, rewarding, meaningful and make the world a better place.

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