Basal W

This week has been another busy time, which continues to feel like it takes more time and energy than event-based-chaos and activity did in the past. I suspect it has a lot to do with aging and perspective, but I’m also feeling like I’m getting a sense that the ways in which I want to focus and spend my time are getting more specific, which sometimes leads to more questions, and other times leads me inward.

In the past, I would not turn to contemplation first, I would usually turn away to other activities, as there are endless things to get lost in that constantly need to be done, especially these days. Now I feel more of an inclination to examine what is leading me inward and question whether or not this is related to something about which I have not been honest with myself in the past.

I continue to practice making time to contemplate, since that has not ever been a process I have practiced regularly, so still feels like a challenge. 

As I examine what I want to be spending my time doing, and what I want my focus to be, the involvement I have with the regional safety teams that volunteer for local events seem all the more important as I find situations where the financial strain the US system is under shows more and more symptoms of desperation, to the point where I myself am experiencing attacks first-hand. Whether it be a case of mistaken identity, wrong place, wrong time, or just having made uninformed choices about where to change trains, the stress on systems is high enough it is affecting more people more keenly than ever, and it’s never fun to be one of them. 

Progress on list items continues, if slowly. Physical activities continued some, with daily rucks underway and a 5K on Saturday. Rain has been more of a constant this week, making it more challenging to get out for longer walks, but at least it has not been such bad weather that a 10-20 minute daily ruck has not been possible. Saturday also saw the collection of another Cosmic Tripster passport stamp, which was a lovely lunch with friends after the early morning 5K shenanigans. 

I’m bummed I missed the chance to catch Yoga next week before the class filled, but I may take the time to complete the February Physical Challenge instead, and see if there are any other McMenamins locations to visit before whatever we figure out for the weekend. 

Preparations for the April convention are definitely spinning up to a faster pace, with orientations to host and plans to make for all the ways to keep an intense weekend survivable, and ideally something we can enjoy in multiple ways. 

While next week seems much less busy than last week was, I expect plenty of things will come up to fill the week quickly, so I will keep a closer eye on how things are feeling, and whether or not I’m feeling the singe of getting too close to the edge of being too busy to enjoy the times I am getting to have, so I can reschedule or let some things pass by, to ideally not get too overdrawn. 

This last week was surprisingly busy. The week started with a late night of work, then rolled through list categories throughout the week:

Relationships & playtime advanced by hosting more gatherings, having friends over for dinner and games on Tuesday. The meal turned out wonderfully, even though I singed the skewers a touch, grilling in the dark. I was just happy to get the chance to grill on a night that was not raining. 

Physical & Health proceeded with getting to attend Kung Fu class Wednesday, where I started hitting some of the challenges I expected with the beginning of a new practice/style where struggling with "beginner's mind" is concerned, where my body expects to execute movements the way I did when I originally learned movements, and practiced them for years, making the process of examining the differences in what is being taught take longer than I feel like I have time for in the midst of class. Thankfully, I am enjoying learning new things, as the class gets into animal styles, since they finished the last weapon practice series while I was not able to attend. Dragon style is very enjoyable, and new enough to bear similarities to familiar movements, but not in ways that feel like they add cognitive dissonance. 

Build community - support events continued with hosting the Monthly RCDM meeting on Thursday, where the KF Medical Lead held an excellent presentation on Medical situations for DM's that sparked lots of great questions, discussion, and more information about plans for KF 2026 for all those attending. 

Friday I took the day off to use the last of the first half of my 2025 vacation time, and enjoyed an excellent breakfast, and then visited the Special Exhibition at Oregon Contemporary for, "A Larger Reality - Ursula K. Le Guin" curated by her family and a collection of artists. The exhibit was a true delight, especially since I was able to audit the presentation that Theo Downes-Le Guin was giving to a visiting class for the beginning of the visit. Having been an ardent fan of the Wizard of Earthsea trilogy, I thrilled to see the wall-sized maps, the prints of her hand-drawn maps for each book, and the process pages of how the book unfolded throughout the process of writing The Tombs of Atuan. I loved getting to enjoy that with both kids, and processing it with family and friends. 

After the exhibit, I was able to log my first "official" geocache, since there was one very nearby. Fun to get started, and to have things to seek out and watch for as catalyzing reasons to gather with friends to go to a place to discover a treasure. 

Friday evening, while on another GoRuck hike with friends, I also started a new list item, by purchasing my first McMenamin's Cosmic Tripster passport, so I was able to get a stamp from 1 bar while along the walk route, and end the route at The Kennedy School, where I was able to complete the entire location to get my first prize. 

Overall a full-to-the brim week that left me ready to rest on Saturday. No room for reading this week, but I did get to review the books I have listed to determine whether or not I'll need to cycle out some of the books on my list, since I may not have all of them accessible, since some of them are graphic novel series I may not be able to get all the editions of this list cycle. 

Tonight will continue the process of Building Community and supporting events as I work as Head DM for a party this evening, which will kick off a slightly less busy week, if only by a couple of less-scheduled evenings. 

As I think about how the week has been, I'm finding that the level of activity seems both high and average, when taken from different perspectives. Going out and actually doing things seems like a major effort, through the lens of the time during pandemic, when going out was risky and overly stressful. The other aspect of going out that seems like a taller effort than I might have clocked before is the emotional challenge of risk as I explore time with friends, and go through the process of getting to know people. I am finding the process rewarding, to be sure, but I'm also understanding why it felt like too much effort and too much to ask of people I did not know or trust in the midst of life with young children. 

This week I'm looking forward to getting back to some Yoga, since there were no classes in January, and seeing what else unfolds. 

 I start this reflection feeling frustration at not doing more, not reflecting more, not having focused on making progress. 

Then I realize that when unexpected events arise, progress on specific pursuits, especially if they are not core to the routine of everyday life, will have to wait. As long as I take time to confirm that I am not actively setting things aside or deferring them for artificial reasons, that is ok. 

Thankfully, I was still able to make progress in the midst of a slower, more sad week than expected. 

Build community and support events: I was able to host an event for a volunteer group I am now a Major Contributor for, and have a good transition meeting where we added 2 members to the group, and will keep efforts going to keep the group active and growing. 

New Physical & health list item: "Monthly physical challenge" I was able to get out and have at least a couple of walks, and attempt to use some equipment I have on hand to test myself gently to see if I might be up for the GoRuck Tribe challenge for the year. My test "ruck" went just slightly better than I expected, so now I just have to figure out how to afford the annual fee, then how I will schedule the workouts each month. I can't argue that I don't need more of a physical challenge, I just want to ensure that I am building gradually and safely enough that I don't risk injury. 

Get started with geocaching: I created an account today and download the app, so I have a start to the process, with next expected step being to confer with friends to see where to start in finding and recording geocaches. I'll keep hope alive we might be able to find 1 closer to the end of this month, but starting in February is more realistic, so there's time to plan for all weather eventualities. 

New Relationship & Playtime item: "Host 12 gatherings" I started reorganizing things at home in preparation for being able to host evenings, dinners, and weekend gatherings with friends, once we get the rest of the preparations completed. 

Other than that, next week is expected to also be slow, quiet, and possibly sad, so I am preparing to get what we can done and figure out what the rest of January will look like.