The greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand the exponential function.
~ Albert Bartlett
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On writing →
I believe that everyone should write in public. Get a blog. Or use Squidoo or Tumblr or a microblogging site. Use an alias if you like. Turn off comments, certainly–you don’t need more criticism, you need more writing.
~ Seth Godin from, Talker’s block
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Thank you. …don’t mind if I do. Coming up on 8 years on this blog, and well over 2,000 posts. :)
Writing here has been useful on two fronts: First, when I do have to write something in some random context, le voila! …every day I suck less at writing. Second, writing clarifies my thinking. (My thinking needs a lot of clarifying.)
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Why storytelling is a big deal →
But forget business for a minute. Stores are much bigger than that, they’re central to our human existence. The way we shape reality is through storytelling. If we can tell a story about it, that means it exists. And this explains our species’ unique capacity for metaphor…for that is how we turn abstract ideas into stories.
~ “Gaping Void” from, «https://www.gapingvoid.com/blog/2019/01/15/the-real-reason-why-storytelling-is-a-big-deal/»
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As I mentioned in the meta-interview of me for the Movers Mindset podcast, I love stories and story-telling. But helping others tell their stories is what I enjoy most about the interviews. Everyone is so incredibly different—yes, I too thought that was obvious before I started interviewing people. ;) Some people, I have nothing more to do then press the ‘record’ button. Some people, have something they need to say but it takes hours of conversation to figure that out before I can press ‘record’.
I’ll be candid: The podcast is incredibly painful to create. Until you’ve tried it—I urge you to never try it, by the way—you cannot understand how much time, effort, and money it takes to do it well … did I mention the time? Worse, the more I work on the craft of story-telling, interviewing, and the countless nuances of producing a show. Bottomless, hopeless, endless, thankless, merciless.
But then I randomly listen to an episode from the catalog, one from a while ago that I’ve sort of half-forgotten and I remember why it would be inconceivable to stop this early in the journey.
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When the power goes out for good →
The power going out in my apartment was refreshing for that few moments only because I knew it was coming back. There was never any question about that. It’s incredible, the confidence I have in the power coming back on. I have more confidence in the power coming back on than I do in my promise to myself to go running three mornings a week.
~ David Cain from, When the Power Goes Out For Good
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Wow, that truth stings.
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Those defiant words →
I am unafraid as I prepare myself for that day when the artifices and disguises will be stripped away and I shall make judgment of myself. Is it just brave talk, or do I mean what I say? Were they for real, those defiant words I spoke against fortune, or were they just theatre – Just acting a part?
~ Seneca
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Kasturi Torchia | Study into Lack of Progression →
On Castbox.fm — Kasturi Torchia | Study into Lack of Progression
What can be learned from integrating therapeutic psychology into Parkour practices to address mental health and personal growth?
Exploring the therapeutic potential of Art du Déplacement within mental health contexts.
I wanted to show what a discipline of psychology that is human, humanistic person centered, could bring to this.
~ Kasturi Torchia (2:02)
The conversation focuses on Kasturi Torchia’s work integrating counseling psychology with Parkour through her model developed at Esprit Concrete. She discusses how Art du Déplacement can serve as a therapeutic tool, emphasizing the humanistic, person-centered approach that fosters self-awareness and addresses individual mental health needs. The talk also highlights the potential for retraumatization in Parkour training and the importance of recognizing and mitigating these risks through reflective practices.
Kasturi explains how movement can reveal unconscious patterns in participants’ lives, providing opportunities for personal growth and healing. She shares questions and strategies to encourage reflective practice, cautioning that probing too deeply without expertise can be dangerous. She underscores the importance of training coaches to apply these concepts effectively and safely.
Takeaways
Integrating counseling psychology with movement practices — Combining psychological interventions with Art du Déplacement to foster mental health and personal growth.
Humanistic and person-centered approach — Emphasizing individualized care while maintaining group values in Parkour coaching.
Risks of retraumatization in Parkour — Recognizing the unconscious potential for retraumatization and addressing it through therapeutic models.
Importance of reflective practice — Encouraging participants to explore patterns in their movements to uncover deeper emotional and psychological connections.
Challenges in coaching — Highlighting the need for caution and proper training when addressing psychological elements in Parkour instruction.
Movement as a mirror for life patterns — Exploring how challenges encountered in training often reflect broader life struggles.
Therapeutic questions for self-reflection — Using guided questions to help participants gain insights into their emotions and experiences.
Training coaches in therapeutic methods — Developing structured workshops to teach coaches safe and effective applications of psychological practices in movement contexts.
Resources
Esprit Concrete — The organization where Kasturi Torchia applies her therapeutic model blending counseling psychology and Parkour.
(Written with help from Chat-GPT.)
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Our lives are not what we think →
Everything there is, everything we know, hinges on this one bizarre, transient condition — existence — which just happens to be your current reality. We regard the miracle of existence as a goldfish regards water, which means we don’t regard it at all. But if you think about it, it’s an exceedingly peculiar fact — that we exist.
~ David Cain from, Our Lives Are Not What We Think
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My energy and drive to write waxes and wanes. But my desire for perspective is constant. Here’s a big ol’ chunk of a different perspective from David Cain.
My favorite sort of perspective—this has happened to me several times—is when I am completely exhausted. Not sleepy, but physically exhausted. Sometimes this has been when I have a slight fever, when a bout with the flu is beginning. But sometimes it’s just after a long day of physical labor. I lay down, and every muscle in my body is completely relaxed. There’s no urge to fidget, and no urge to move. When I’m completely relaxed like this, exhaling is such a delightfully emptying feeling.
…and sometimes my brain gets quiet enough to think, “oh! This is quite nice.”
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A conversation with Mandy Lam →
The conversation with Mandy was the first time I tried simply recording a long conversation, which we published with almost zero editing. I had been talking to people on our team about trying this form of recording, but at some point, you just sort of have to jump in the pool.
I don’t remember where or when I first met Mandy. I don’t remember if someone said, “you should interview Mandy.” “Who?” “Mandy, over there— here, I’ll introduce you.” …or maybe we first met training. I really don’t recall. But I do recall that after a conversation we were like, yeah, let’s do an interview. At some point. Somewhere. Some when.
Then a few more conversations. Then a few stories at Gerlev, and then we were at the 3rd Évry Move event and we kept saying, “we should make time for an interview.” So after dinner one evening, we kicked our feet up in a hotel room overlooking the fountain in front of the Évry Cathedral.
…and talked for more than two hours trying to decide what to talk about in her interview. Two terrific hours of great conversation. We kept looking out from the 4th floor, with the big window swung open wide to the warm night, and thinking, “This is Évry. We’re just casually chatting about communities and life and everything… in the middle of Évry.”
…and the huge water fountain in the plaza sounding like a waterfall.
…and we really should press record soon.
“…ok, so, we’ve now been talking for 2-and-a-half hours. We should probably press record soon.”
Finally, I was like, “fuck it. ready?” and I hit record. Then we talked for another two hours. We recorded this sleep-drunk rambling conversation, and the whole time I’m thinking, “this is going to be so bad. No one will ever want to listen to this.”
Weeks later, I finally listened to it.
There’s a team of people behind the podcast and they always want to know how each interview went. I bet you’ve heard the phrase, “like pulling a rabbit out of your hat,” used when—with a touch of panache—you manage something akin to snatching victory from the jaws of defeat.
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This greater good you’ve found →
Indeed, if you find anything in human life better than justice, truth, self-control, courage – in shrot, anything better than the sufficiency of your own mind, which keeps you acting according to the demands of true reason and accepting what fate gives you outside of your own power of choice – I tell you, if you can see anything better than this, turn to it heart and soul and take full advantage of this greater good you’ve found.
~ Marcus Aurelius
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The interviews from my perspective →
This ongoing series of posts will contain my memories and thoughts from the interviews which I have been doing for the Movers Mindset podcast.
You can—obviously—listen to each interview. But in this series I want to share things about the interviews. I realized that I have begun to tell stories about the interviews, and people are fascinated by those stories as much as by the interviews themselves.
And so I want to share snapshots—imagery and ideas conveyed through storytelling—from the interviews. The podcast is about, among other things, sharing stories and for every interview I have at least one great story I want to tell.
Stories from before the interviews, or after. Or the people in the room you didn’t hear, or beautiful spaces I get to visit, or the time of day, the light, the vibe, the orgin-story of how I first met the guest, how they affected my life or my journey, …
I’m already 27 stories behind and even the most cursory romp down memory lane has brought countless stories to mind.
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