Running Water

Running Water
Everything is bold, everything is changing. Decisions, decisions keep rearranging.

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Monday, April 27, 2015

Clearly, my interests vary.

Clearly, my interests vary. Isn't that ideal in a lot of ways though? Some of the most well rounded and healthy people have their feelers in a multitude of things simultaneously and excel in only a few of them. Exercise of the physical, mental, and social varieties cannot be overstated. Its called health. It takes a lot of different things all working together to create homeostasis of the mind and body(...spirit/soul?).

I was assigned the reading of  "let my people go surfing" by Yvon Chouinard, founder and owner of Patagonia. I read the following excerpt today.

"I've always thought of myself as an 80 percenter. I like to throw myself passionately into a sport or activity until I reach about an 80 percent proficiency level. To go beyond that requires an obsession and specialization that doesn't appeal to me. Once I reach that 80 percent level I like to go off and do something totally different..."

I am currently in a haze of influence and fluttery ideals that many people wouldn't give a second thought about. I have given many more than two thoughts. I'm far past my 3rd, 4th, 5th, etc. Sure, the stories and imagery and all of the Patagonia book is very hip, but I am not ashamed of identifying with something whether it is popular, unpopular, evil, or holy, as long as I think its good. I create my own identity, so why does it matter what ya'll think about what I think... Or what I think about what you think I'm thinking...?

Anyway, this excerpt is one of many in the book that illustrates a great idea that had a few more than two thoughts in my head. Being an 80 percenter in activity gets me a B. I have been a 3.0 GPA kind of student for years now, maybe this is a good way of explaining my tolerance and how it varies with different activities and time. Whatever, I like it.




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