June 2009

June 2009

Hi Folks!

What do you think of when you hear the word "simplify"? Being an extremist, I am immediately transported to a vagabond-type existence where all I need I am carrying on my back. My sort of vagabonding wouldn't be the just-dropped-out-of-society type with which we, as Santa Cruz County folk, are all too familiar. I'd have a plan. I'd take showers. Even the dog I'd partner up with would be shampooed regularly. In a perfect world, this is how I'd like to pass my years.

But I am a realist and understand that such extreme simplification is probably not logical. Not now anyhow. Nonetheless, I am constantly driven by a need to meet it in the middle. And as with anything, compromise is meant to be challenging. So where's my balance? What do I do? Well, I run.

I take a run for the same reasons you go on vacation. Except, my run is significantly shorter than a trip to Europe. And cheaper. The point is that my run recharges my batteries and readies me for real life, just around the bend. I think my best thoughts on a run. Come up with my best ideas. Compose newsletter articles or letters to friends. I may even spend the time reflecting on random memories as I crank out the miles.

In fact, on a recent long run in Nisene Marks an otherwise forgotten memory popped into my mind for an unknown reason. While backpacking on an island in southern Baja California, I awoke earlier than usual to the morning sun burning my face. It was my birthday. I think I was turning 26 or so. I sat up in my sleeping bag and rubbed my eyes. I noticed a large conch shell sitting to the side of my bedroll. I picked it up to check it out. It was white and pink and covered in red barnacles. As I felt its weight in my hands, my best friend came over the lip of a sand dune and wished me a happy birthday. Apparently he'd found the shell in the surf that morning.

Simplification removes the clutter from our lives and makes room for an appreciation of the moment - sometimes a moment from our past. Make sure you are doing this. Our days aren't disposable.

I may never embark on a walk across America. But I may get a dog one day anyhow.

To Your Health!

tom