The beauty of nonsense

The older I get- the less nonsense that occurs in my life.

I haven't gone to the grocery store and bought 5 pounds of hamburger meat and a loaf of bread to make a massive hamburger in years. I haven't put on funk music and danced around a trash can in a while either. I didn't even drive out to a friends house this halloween to steal a pumpkin...sigh.

My life is now linear- do this for that. While reflecting recently about my friend who has passed, I realized that we had our most memorable times while carrying out nonsense. He had asked me to work with him on a farm during the weekends, I had already had a job and wasn't terribly farm savvy, but I decided to do it. It made no sense at the time, but I was 17. Lots of things I did made no sense.

I would wake up early after working my other job the night prior and go pick up my friend for our days chores. We would pull cat tails out of the pond,  re-gravel the driveway, pull weeds from the garden, cut the acres of lawn, and we even put up some vine posts for a vineyard they were going to be start. The work was rewarding, but the fun we had kept me coming back every weekend. It was in those times of nonsense when my friend would chase me with the "gator" 4 wheeler, or hide my lunch in the tool shed, or try to get me to fight another co-worker at the farm that I got to know my friend so much better.

My point is that we should all keep doing nonsense, stay young. My 17 year old brain made a decision that might not have made sense at the time- but it certainly does now. Times of nonsense are where you will form your best memories and truly connect with people. Let your guard down, don't take yourself too seriously, "acuna matatta".

Why I like running- and why you can too.

Why I like running- And why you can too.

I like running because its the best therapy for the price, the gym with the best hours, and the adventure thats nearest my door.

In a modern age where "connections" are how many people are able to view your social or business networking profile, and food comes from a grocery store, and writing a paper means sitting at a computer and typing out paragraphs while surfing the web for legitimate (or so you hope) references- we all feel a little removed from the reality of what it is that we are really doing.

Running is different. The connection is primal. Your feet. The ground. Boom.

Sure the surfaces and shoes have changed over time but your missing the point!

You go from a warm bed, to a climate controlled car, to a school or office with lights, and your body is at ease. Its comfortable. This amazing gift that has evolved over millions of years just exists, in pleasure.

While running you leave the world of complete control and enter into chaos. If your in a park, a beautiful natural chaos. Turn off your music player and just soak in the moment, absorb all the sensations taking place. Your body is no longer at ease- its in full flight.

Don't forget to pack with you your frustrations and anxiety. Bring them, and then let them go. I can say I have never solved a problem while running, but I can come to accept things that I cannot change while running.

Some people run as fast as they can, some jog, and some walk. But I truly believe that when they return from their daily adventure- they are glad they went. :)


So lace up- and don't ever run somebody else's race