The last handful of days have been the most beautiful in Southern California all year. The oppressively “hot” season lasted from August through October, so these recent mild days are very much appreciated. Also, my run legs are back from their woozy vacation, and Thanksgiving is on Thursday; what a wonderful time of year.
Prepping for my upcoming Biscay Coaching Turkey Trot 10K last Saturday at my Alma Mater, Claremont HS.
The only set plans I have for Thanksgiving are to run twenty-five laps around a track, talk to my family via Zoom, and eat an unwieldy amount of root vegetables. And plenty of nuts, too.
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I love being surrounded by friends and family, eating multiple plates of food, listening to my brothers play guitar by the outside fireplace, and flipping on Christmas music on our drive home, (when it is sanctioned to do so, after Thanksgiving dinner has commenced.) This year will be different.
I’m already listening to Christmas music.
And that’s okay.
This year I have more reasons to give Thanks than any other. 2020 has been the most transformative year of the forty-one years I have clocked thus far. It has been very painful at times, (hamstring injury/career insecurities), but facing that myriad of pain, and then figuring out a way to move through it and beyond it, has delivered the most intense joy and satisfaction I have ever felt.
A "good" sign.
After months of tumult, (January, February, March), and after reaching out for and receiving tremendous support from many of YOU, I allowed my intuition vs. my ego to lead the way the rest of the year.
Exploring new trails just miles from my house last Sunday.
I discovered years ago, (circa, 1984) that my purpose on earth was to create experiences to live and share, but it wasn’t until the Summer of 2020 that I embraced the fact that I wasn’t responsible for the outcome of those experiences. Either positive or negative, (laughing or not laughing at my jokes, reading or clicking past my posts, or being inspired to move or sit still), I will continue to create experiences to live and share because creativity and resilience are two sides of the same coin, and their currency is infinite.
The ladies of Backbone: Lynne Fiedler, Patricia Lorenzi, Jess Zaiss, and Amy-Berkin-Chavez.
Furthermore, my absolute favorite means of creating is through visual storytelling, i.e. filmmaking, and following is a recent mini-movie I made documenting my amazing friends and teammates in the photo above conquering the legendary 68-mile long Backbone Trail in the Santa Monica Mountains:.
Lastly, I wish you all a wonderful, yet wistful, tummy-stretching Thanksgiving!
The song and video choice this week is a classic tune that encourages dancing during any hour of the day. Enjoy.:)