Walking, Running, Overthinking

a grab bag post

My eldest came home from college for the summer! So there’s lots of happy reunioning going on this week, and less time for writing. It’s been a few weeks since I offered a grab bag, and I’ve accumulated a bunch of stuff to share, so… here we go! Happy exploring:

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Grace in the garden: Our roses are blooming, no thanks to me.

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I’ve recently stepped up my running in anticipation of a 24-hour race I’m doing in September. More about that Dumb Thing for a Good Cause later, but the structure of the event means I’m also doing a fair bit of walking in order to prepare. I enjoyed this article about the clarity that comes from walking. (Yes, that’s the Andrew McCarthy from Pretty in Pink.)

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Speaking of running, this is the first year since 2014 (except during covid) that I will not be captaining a Ragnar Relay team. A couple folks had asked whether we’d field a team this year, and I kept hemming and hawing because I knew it wasn’t in the cards for me but I didn’t want to let people down. Finally someone took it upon themselves to poll the group, and lo and behold, there was plenty of interest. Looks like this thing will happen without me.

Lesson: if something’s not yours to do, just say so and get out of the way—others will fill in if it’s meant to happen.

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Because this is still my beat: 4 Explanations for the Teen Mental Health Crisis.  

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The unexamined life is not worth living, but the over-examined one isn’t much better.

-Roman Mars, in a conversation with novelist John Green 

Brother, you speak to my condition.

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My 17 year old recently introduced me to Game Changer, a show on the Dropout TV streaming service in which the contestants don’t know the rules of the games ahead of time and only figure them out by jumping in and playing. Their tagline is:

The only way to learn is by playing
The only way to win is by learning
And the only way to begin is by beginning.

That. Will. Preach.

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I loved this definition of pride by Suzanne Stabile, godmother of the Enneagram. So expansive:

Pride is the inability or unwillingness to acknowledge one’s own needs and suffering, while tending to the needs and suffering of others. 

Speaking of Suzanne, if you’re an Enneagram One (or any of the dependent stance types: One, Two, or Six), I expect you will love this recent episode with Kendra Adachi, aka the Lazy Genius. 

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This Substack writer took on the challenge of explaining climate change using the Up-Goer Five Text Editor, which only allows you to use the 1000 most common English words. (I tried to use it to explain the gospel. Still working on it; “justice” isn’t one of the 1000.) 

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That same writer found some lessons on disaster preparedness from this incredible video of a snowboarder being rescued after falling upside down into a tree well. 

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Need to get centered? Try decentering yourself.

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The opposite of triggers is glimmers, first coined by Deb Dana (no relation). What glimmers have you seen lately?

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What I’m Up To

This week’s Ted Talk.

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Don’t look now, but I think book number four started germinating a week or two ago. That’s… exciting? Daunting? All of the things? 

I actually pitched two ideas to the publisher. The other topic wasn’t really right for a book format, but I do plan to roll it out in a series of posts this summer. If you’re interested in a peek into that, consider becoming a paid subscriber. 

Other newsletter news: Notes is a new space on Substack to share links, short posts, quotes, photos, and more. I’m off most social media, but so far it has a friendly, thoughtful vibe, so I’ll stick around. So far I’m using it for random thoughts, photos, and links that don’t warrant an entire post, or stuff I want to get off my chest in between Fridays. 

To join Notes, head to substack.com/notes or find the “Notes” tab in the Substack app, if you use it. Subscribers of the Blue Room will automatically see my notes there. You can also share notes of your own! The Notes FAQ has more about this new feature. 

Steady on.