It’s amazing how stressful the start of winter always is. And then buy this time it is just the normal way of life. But days are getting longer…
I was reading Arnold’s “Pump” newsletter the other day…
In the midst of all the pushing of properly vetted, (meaning more expensive), products and the Pump app itself, occasionally there is useful actionable advice.
A subject was stretch and flex, being present in every rep all the way through.
Of course with Arnold, the answer to everything is through weight training but I take a little bit more when I can… whether it is in exercise or art or work, or just taking a breath or eating a meal, it is important to do each effort all the way and focus or embrace the process. We all know this of course but so easily we forget when the task is at hand and we are just going through the motions.
How often I find myself rushing to get through something, taking half reps…
Doing things half way or not quite all the way so I can be done.
In the process of learning and growing, full intentional reps are worth the effort of course… Looking back there have certainly been enough times when I have come across something I wish I had taken the time to do right the first time..
On the other hand, you need to be finished with a project at some point. Here are a couple small paintings that I thought were done quite a while ago but I kept pulling them back to the easel. They are now final varnished and done. But it took me a bit to get over that edge and I am still not sure they are as good as they could be. But despite what I said above, I think we also need to learn and move on.
Either way, I guess the goal is just to live life intentionally and enjoy the process.
I grew up in Minnesota and have lived here my whole life. I was raised in the Twin Cities, moved north to Ely in my early twenties, married, raised kids, built a home in the woods, and ran a business. Now, more than forty years later, I spend much of my time back in the Twin Cities. Wherever I’ve lived, I’ve always felt that being Minnesotan mattered. Even during my more reclusive years, I admired Minneapolis and St. Paul, Cities that, somehow, in this cold climate, became hubs of art, music, and diversity. Like any big city, they have problems. But I’ve always felt people here hold their heads up and look out for one another. Even the worst rush hour isn’t that bad, someone will let you merge. If you’re stuck in the snow, someone will usually stop to help.
The past few weeks here have been crazy. Not because cities are inherently fragile, but because armed force was deliberately introduced into civilian spaces to provoke chaos and force a reaction. Armed men in camo and masks don’t make a place safer. They make it brittle. And when that happens, it’s regular people who absorb the stress.
I like Minneapolis and St. Paul. Not because they’re ideal, but because of what it takes to live here. People endure the cold along with the humidity, the bugs, the long winters. You learn to prepare, to help, to be patient. You can travel a short distance and be in the woods or on a lake, and all that shapes how people think and live.
Somehow, in this place on the far north end of the Mississippi, people from all over the world come and go and sometimes end up staying. They bring their food, their music, their art, their routines, their lifestyles and their disagreements. It didn’t happen by accident. It happened because people stayed, adapted, and built something together. That’s what I recognize in these cities.
I don’t have a grand statement to make. What I do know is that the past weeks revealed a quiet strength here. Thousands of people willing to stand outside in ten-below weather to make a statement. Local leaders trying to maintain calm while giving citizens the space to express their disapproval. Watching it happen in real time, though stressful for all of us, is an experience we will remember. A lesson in civic resilience. It's not always comfortable, but it's durable.
I know anyone could probably talk fondly about the place that feels like home to them. This just happens to be mine, right now.
Also, thinking a bit about Bob Weir who left us this past month. When I think of Bob Weir I always think of this piece:
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…if I loose my grip… will I take flight?…
Bruce Cockburn