Riding the Edge of the Explosion

Feeling just barely out of control in the most deliciously powerful way.

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Coffee is for Closers

In Glengarry, Glen Ross's most infamous scene, Alec Baldwin's character forcefully explains to a tired sales team that coffee is for closers and those who aren't closing, aren't doing their jobs. This same type of work culture is both glorified and indemnified in other films like Wallstreet and The Boiler Room where a cutthroat attitude will serve individuals well and make them rich, with those who can't take the heat falling by the wayside.

Sounds like a blast. 

How effective is a work culture based on total and complete competition, bordering on warfare? If your team can only succeed when they trick a customer or beat a colleague, your team is not meant for the long term. Teams like that fail for many reasons, including high turnover and dismal levels of morale. Knowing they have to meet certain metrics to succeed, a salesperson pushing you on a hard sale is a whole lot more likely to come off as Old Gil from the Simpsons than Don Draper.

If you only give the closers coffee, they closers will keep succeeding while those with potential will be sleepy and neglected. And if you aren't nurturing potential, you are wasting one of you biggest assets as an organization. So how do you avoid being the stereotypical desperate used car salesman?

First and foremost, it's important to lead a team that supports itself internally. If your team isn't learning from each other, they are doing their job, sales or otherwise, wrong. Your best teachers in life are experience and peers because both of them know exactly where you are and meet you on your own level. If you lead a group of isolated professionals who can only succeed when another one of the islands they work with fails, there will be no reason to help each other. Your organization will be pulled in every direction, incrementally moving forward like a cart with horses on all sides trying to pull it where it benefits them the most. If the horses know that the best food and the nicest stable is in one direction and that everyone can benefit by going in that direction, you can guide them together and move forward. Culture change isn't easy, but it is essential for growth.

Once your team is willing and able to work together, you have to make sure your product (or fundraising goal or whatever else you are promoting) is something they believe in enough to make other people believe too. If your team thinks your product is harmful, turnover is going to be high and morale will be low. If the only reason someone is working for you is a paycheck, then all you'll get is someone who sticks with you for as long as that paycheck is their main motivation. People want to feel fulfilled just as much as they want to pay rent and eat -- so make sure you can help them feel fulfilled or risk losing them when they find another income stream. 

So how do you make someone feel fulfilled? Well, your product should fill a real need and not harm anyone that uses it. Once you meet that threshold, you need to provide benefits (time to recharge, support for health and personal growth, etc.) and you need to have an ethical and moral backbone to your organization that every team member can (and should) follow. 

Essentially: treat your team well, don't sell toxic widgets, don't allow toxic work behavior and don't build an unethical culture. If you can do that, the positives will build and you'll find your team members innovating and growing with you and for you, while your customers trust you. 

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Negativity as Tactic

Negativity is something that most people say they don't like. Negativity is also incredibly common. Why? 

Well, being negative is easy. Being negative means that you simply say no to what everyone else is working towards and proposing without adding anything to the equation. Being negative and focusing on the fearful is the quickest way to place yourself in the limelight without actually having substance behind your voice.

Everyone wants to sound like the smartest person in the room, from politicians running for the Presidency to your coworker whose gunning for that promotion. Behaving negatively means that one can sound smart and cautious when other ask people to look to the future and build. This is incredibly common in group settings and it's something a true leader and forward thinker avoids.

Where others focus on the downside, it's your job to build the upside and create positive alternatives and futures to whatever dilemma you and your comrades are facing.   

If you're working on a project and a team member seems to only ever list catastrophic problems that could potentially maybe one day possibly happen, take a step back before getting annoyed. Remember that this team member might have a few good, constructive points hidden in the negativity and you can find them by asking probing questions. Pull away the hysteria by asking them to quanitfy and specify their predictions of doom. Soon you'll find that what was impossible a few moments earlier was actually a comment on a weaker aspect of the project you're building together.

Doom and gloom is easy, constructive criticism and vision are hard. Be your best self and lead your colleagues away from negative excuses to positive events.

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Using What You've Got

It's the biggest day of your life with only a few hours to spare before the project/performance/event/test that will define your life and career for the forseeable future. And all of a sudden the bottom drops out. You lost your main investor, your voice is too shot to sing the solo or the zombie apocalypse inconveniently starts right before you take the stage. Whatever's happening, it's not good and you are starting to panic. Adrenaline courses through your body and your brain starts screaming that everything is falling down around you and it's just not going to work.

This might not be ideal for most people, but with the right kind of mindset this is a pretty great place to find yourself.

I'm a planner (sometimes obsessively so), but I am constantly working to incorporate and appreciate the unexpected into my life and my projects. When everything is known before it happens, life becomes a dull and drab march towards the inevitable (if you don't believe me, read a variety of philosophical and fictional works on the necessity of free will and the harshness of predetermined life). When surprise drops in on us, it's up to us whether we swing into contingency plans and improvisation or if we panic and crumble.

While it can seem appealing to fall apart when things get rough, it's so much more important to feel that panic and then let it go. Emotions are important and key to our shared humanity. But emotions can also hold you captive and force you to act without rational thought. When things start to go south and that dreadful, creeping feeling of failure comes upon you, it's important to remember that you should feel it -- but you shouldn't let it control you.   

When panic sets in, feel it and learn from it. Diagnose the pain point that pushed the adrenaline into your system, harness the nervous energy that's running through your veins and make your fear work for you. Your fear is important and instinctual. Your fear is telling you something key that you might be overlooking. But fear isn't smart. Fear is indiscriminate and it will cripple you if you let it. When panic sets in, feel it and then let it wash through you.

After your panic washes through you, take a look at what's happening. If you're lucky, the insurmountable from a moment ago is suddenly just an opportunity to grow and change with the times. You had a backup of that irreplaceable item, or someone can pull double duty behind the scenes. It's not always that simple to fix a plan that starts to pull apart at the seams, but it doesn't need to be if you accept that you might have to adjust things on the fly and that the unexpected breathes new life into the staid.

The most important thing you can do to be successful in the face of the unexpected, in my opinion at least, is to always think ahead and build out contingencies when you can. You aren't planning for the exact thing that could go wrong, but you are preparing yourself for the idea of change. You are practicing and building a process where things can evolve with their surroundings to stay fresh and relevant. It might seem counterintuitive, but a good plan always includes the idea of "going with the flow" so that you don't trap yourself in panic when your world rapidly changes. 

Nothing fun or important or innovative ever came from staying in your comfort zone, which are easy words to say and exhilarating words to live by.   

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Unintentional Hiatus

Well, life is pretty different or me than it was just a few months ago -- which conincidentally was the last time I took to my blog.  With a career change (that has been utterly welcome and amazing) and a death in the family (that was unexpected and devastating), the world of MAK has been focused outside of blogging about bikes and management. 

My unintentional hiatus is coming to an end, however, and I'm planning on writing with more attention to the interests of anyone who happens to read my words. With the popularity of the bike term explainer post from September, I'm planning on writing more about my thoughts on bikes, the industry and gear. Outside of bikes, I'm hoping to tackle management theory, work experiences and how to succeed by really trying (and still set boundaries).

I leave this post with a picture of Chicago's Millenium Park gardens from last week that have a muted brilliance that I just adore. If you have any questions or requests, please send them my way.

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Team Building and the Three C's

I attended the ICOVA (Illinois Conference of Volunteer Administrators) event this past August, which was a very interesting day full of conversation about recruitment and retention of volunteers. By far my favorite part of the day was the keynote speech by Rev. Fred Nettles, which touched on team building for any organization. 

Nettles, both a Reverend and secular non-profit administrator, was a great speaker (both content and charisma wise!) His talk covered a range of topics about volunteerism in general, but specifically delved into his thoughts on building an effective team in any organization.

Nettles shared his "Three C Rule for Building Teams" with the ICOVA attendees, detailing the importance of:

Character: Compatibility of the organization's culture and mission with the potential team member's integrity.

Competency: Positioning the team member for success and investing in good work through training and professional development.

Charisma: Team members that get along!

Finding a group of people who can work together, feel inspired together and enjoy their time together is a pretty difficult task, but every organizational leader is asked to do it every day. While a lot of the time, a leader isn't given the option of building their own team -- they inherit people who may or may not fit into the leader's ideal organizational vision -- that doesn't mean managers and leaders can't build a team using Nettles' "Three C's."

If you can't change the team, it's important to clearly change the culture of the organization for your team. Create easily shared and spotted physical artifacts that represent the culture you want to create in your organization. If your company is all about integrity, share stories of employees who showed integrity via social media, intranets and blogs. Honor those people or highlight those actions you want others to imitate through specific and branded actions.

As for competency, make sure you know what people are best suited to do in your organization and help them grow and develop professionally when possible. Take stock of your needs and your assets!

Lastly, if your team doesn't get along try to understand why before you take any actions. If you have a real jerk in your organization, they may be enough of a Debbie Downer to prevent everyone else from feeling happy or successful. They may also be a key player in the organization that you don't want to let go. The trick here is making everyone feel heard and adjusting the team dynamics so the Debbie Downer isn't hurting the productivty and morale of everyone else on the team. You could do this by giving them a lateral promotion that moves them out of constant contact with the team or by asking them to adjust their behavior. Or you can do both or neither!

Above all, the Three C's are powerful because they give a leader a jumping off point. They aren't the end all and be all, but they are a simple and easy way to build your team, either through hiring people or through developing your most prized assets (your current employees!).

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Is it time to move on?

Horror stories and accolades can sometimes serve the same purpose in life. It's human nature to remember the crappy things that happen and the canonize the great things, which isn't so bad if you think about it. Every time you (constructively) complain about a co-worker or system or what-have-you, you're building up a subconscious list of what you see as issues that can be improved. The same can be said of the positive experiences that you rave about -- you're building a list of things that worked for you.

A crappy boss can make your life miserable. They can make you feel small, unwanted and overall unhappy in your job (if not your life in general). If you have a crappy boss, life can seem pretty grim. The most important thing to do is keep building yourself up and building that list of behaviors or techniques that you don't like because they'll serve you well in the future.

Speaking of the future, before you lose your mind to stress and impulsively quit, figure out what's so crappy about the boss. Is it their techniques, personality, the culture of the department or just the company itself? I always think a good rule of thumb for how you feel about a job can be seen in your fantasies for quitting. Do you want to make a big stink or slink away? Do you want to stay on good terms or make sure everyone knows how miserable you were? 

Once you have an idea of why you're unhappy, start looking for a new job that will make you happier -- but don't let anyone in your current company know. And try to stay positive. The more you let things roll off your back like water rolls off a duck's back, the happier you'll be. Focus on your new opportunities and try to exist with what's making you unhappy.

At this point, I also think it's important to state that there are a lot of people you've probably been (constructively) complaining or ranting to for awhile. Buy them all some coffee or a beer or give them a hug. They deserve some appreciation for helping you reflect and move forward!

As things start to look up and you get that new amazing job as an ice cream tester at Ben & Jerry's (or wherever else you go), don't leave in a sour or rude way. Stay above the fray and stay professional -- forget your fantasies of quitting with a huge song and dance number and just submit a letter of resignation.

You'll take your classy style, happier life and good thoughts with you when you leave the job for greener pastures. You'll also have that list of constructive complaints that you built up with your time at the last job. Leave the emotion of them with the past and use the objective facts to make yourself a stronger leader and colleague.

Did you hate how your last boss was dismissive? Or how they focused on the end product over the process? Make sure you're appreciative in your new role and focus on the details of workflows. Never lose an opportunity to grow or improve yourself by learning from a crappy boss just because they are crappy!

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Panniers and Pedal Wrenches: A Newbies Guide to Bicycle Vocabulary

Starting something new can be scary, no matter what the situation is. Walking into a space where you don’t know every detail can be anything from mildly anxiety provoking to terrifying. In my opinion, the biggest hurdle to jump on the way to being comfortable is to learn the lingo.

Talking the talk basically means you can discuss the topic at hand with the “experts” on a more even footing…even if you still know pretty much just the basics. At least, that’s how I feel with bike and bike related topics. I don’t feel like I’m anything beyond an enthusiast, but I do know a whole hell of a lot of things about bikes and I know how to talk about them.

As a petite woman who has been ignored and spoken down to by more than enough roadies to last me a lifetime, I like to help other people who don’t look like the typical weekend warrior avoid crappy treatment from snobbier cyclists. Knowing what to call the random stuff on a bike or related to a bike is a pretty useful skill that I’ve tried to share with others for the past few years (SpokeModels’ Mechanic’s Nights being my first organized attempt). With the right terminology, not only can you participate in scoping out the beautiful bikes locked on the street, you can protect yourself from getting overcharged or just really impress with your opinion on SRAM vs. Shimano parts.

So, for anyone thinking of taking up cycling or just trying to read Bike Snob NYC and trying to figure out what he’s talking about all the time, read on for a very abbreviated list of terms I think everyone should know before rolling into a bike shop.

Bike Types:

Cruiser: an upright bike, probably good for riding on the beach or other leisurely rides around town. They also typically have big wheels and wide seats.

Mountain Bike: Depending on how rugged the mountain bike, this style is meant for off-roading, “stump jumping” and overall trail riding. They typically have knobby tires, upright postures and aren’t very fun on the road.

Hybrid: A mixture of a road bike and a mountain bike, the hybrid is meant for someone who wants to ride on the road (mostly), but doesn’t want to lean forward or use skinny tires. Hybrids also allow you to ride on the grass easily and have thicker tires than a road bike. Every hybrid is different, but these are typically great commuter bikes or transition bikes between mountain and road for the skittish cyclist.

Road: a diamond framed road bike with handlebars the drop are what most people picture when they think of the Tour de France or any other kind of racing bike. Road bikes are great for a lot of different types of riding – commuting, touring, racing or anything else on the road. They can get a lot more “aggressive” depending on the geometry of the bike, but are essentially meant to travel easily on the road with skinny tires and not go on the grass or dirt.

Fixed Gear: you can’t change gears and your pedals move when your wheels move on a fixed gear – so no coasting! These are popular in cities and advocates for them enjoy how they connect you to the road. They typically don’t have brakes and can be pretty hard on your knees, so they take some getting used to riding. For those who love them, they are amazing, light, cheap and easy to fix. For those who are intimidated by them, a single speed is a similar ride with smaller barriers to entry.

Mixte: This is the bike you probably see in your minds eye rolling across the Dutch countryside, with the step through frame, fenders and adorable basket with a bottle of wine in it. These are also known as Dutch, City and Safety bikes and are popular for a reason. They are durable, versatile and cute (a lot of the time) options for cruising and commuting.

Single Speed: Any bike that only has one speed is a single speed, so you could find a cruiser, road bike or mixte all labeled as single speeds. They are similar to fixed gears in that you never change gears, but they do allow you to coast (not pedal while your wheels roll). Depending on how hilly your area is, these are a great option for riding in lots of settings, but are typically harder for long rides!

Tri: Meant for triatholons, tri bikes are similar to track bikes and road bikes, but usually with weird geometry. They are also crazy expensive and not really meant for regular riding.

Track Bike: similar to a fixed gear, but only meant for riding in a track or velodrome. These are training bikes for people who race so that they can work on their cadence (speed of pedaling) and form off the road to improve their performance on it.

Bike Ride Types

Commuting getting to and from school or work.

Cyclocross: a mixture of road and mountain biking, cyclocross is getting more and more popular as a way for people to enjoy both really fun sides of biking on and off road.

Touring: long distance cycling, usually as a way to travel between cities.

Racing: competing for speed, usually by road.

Fun!

Pretty much every other time you see someone on a bike

 Bike Trainer: great for indoor biking, this is an easy way to turn your bike into a stationary bike if you can’t go outside or just don’t want to ride on the road.

 Frame Terms:

Crank Arms: the straight metal pieces that connect your pedals to your bike.

Coaster Brakes: You probably had these on your first bike – you brake by pedaling backwards instead of using levers on your handlebars.

Fork: where the wheel fits into the frame, sort of like a two-pronged fork!

Internal Hub: typically found on older bikes and children’s (English 3 speeds especially), these are on the rear wheels. The internal part of the name means that the mechanisms that shift the bike and brake the bike are on the inside of the hub. 

Lube: nothing sexy about this oil that you use to keep your bike moving smoothly.

Panniers // Saddle Bags: Bags that you can attach to your bike are called panniers (French) or saddle bags (western!). They are great at preventing back//neck strain, the dreaded sweaty on the way to the office and to just cram more stuff on your bike. Pictured are three different types of panniers (front rack Ortlieb roll over [black, smaller], rear rack Ortlieb roll over [yellow, larger] and a Timbuk2 messenger bag) that are all super high quality and very useful. I use the front rack Ortliebs on my rear rack because I am a small person on a small frame – I don’t have a lot of real estate for the bigger ones!

Attachment System: how the damn thing actually gets on your bike. There are a million different kinds, but I personally prefer Ortlieb’s.

Heel Strike: When your heel hits your pannier when you pedal. Super annoying, potentially dangerous and a sure sign the pannier is either too big for your bike or you didn’t adjust it correctly to your rack // frame.

 Pedals:

Platform Pedals: flat pedals that provide a platform for you to pedal AKA what you’ll typically get on a bike.

Cages: A plastic and strap based cage that a cyclist can slip their foot into to get somewhere between a platform and a clip. There exists a lot of controversy as to whether these are safe or stupid or worth it – tread further only if you dare!

Clip Pedals: Pedals with metal that connects specially made shoes to the bike to provide more physical force for each pedal stroke. 

Racks:

Rear Rack: very common on the road, these racks are great for baskets, panniers or just strapping something on with a bungee cord.

Front Rack: not too common on the road, really only used for touring or other very gear focused pursuits, a front rock fits over a front wheel. Smaller panniers are used for front racks than rear racks.

 Reasons to Ride a Bike:

Fun

Commuting

Recreation

Sports // Exercise

Literally like a million others, so just remember to be cool to each other on the road

Saddle: the seat!

 Spandex Spandex Spandex!

Bike Shorts: true bike shorts are spandex with padding (a chamois) in the butt area to protect your private parts from going numb or getting hurt on longer rides. You don’t wear underwear with them and the fit based on your genitalia – so make sure to wash them and you probably don’t want to share!

Cycling Cap: a hat specifically meant to be worn on a bike (under your helmet or not) that helps keep your hair in place and the rain or sun out of your eyes. They can be very fashionable, made of spandex, tweed or other material. I really like using them in the summer to keep my hair from looking as sweaty!

Cycling Gloves: padded gloves that help protect your arms and wrists from the bumps of the road. They are also very handy in protecting the skin on your hands and wrists from road rash in case you fall or crash.

Cycling Jersey: a spandex (usually) shirt that zips up and has pockets. It’s specifically meant to be worn on a road bike, with a longer back and flexible shoulders to account for the stretched posture of riding a road bike.

Clip Shoes: Shoes that clip into clipped pedals. They help a cyclist make better contact with the pedals and provide force on the up and down stroke of the pedal’s revolution. Since you’re connected to the bike, they typically make the rider more attuned to traffic – to stop, you need to unclip so you better keep your eyes open!

 Tires

Types of Tires:

Beach: big and fat (2 inches wide), great for riding on sand!

Fat: super big and fat (4 inches wide), great for snow and sand!

Road: nice and skinny (25-28cm usually) for the least amount of surface area on the road and the fastest ride

Mountain: knobby for traction off road, usually 35cm

Studded: studded with rubber and metal to help the tires get traction on snow and ice

Touring: thick and skinny, meant to hold up to a lot of abuse and have good traction, but not be too difficult to push forward on the road

The Bead: this is where the tire is tucked into the rim of the wheel – it’s basically the seal that you break when you remove a tire and the seal you evenly create when you replace a tire.

Tires vs. Tubes: Tires are the rubber that meets the road, tubes are what fill them up inside. Tires are also a lot more expensive than a tube and should be replaced way less.

Tire Levers: These little guys can be plastic and of varying quality. You insert the lip end under the rim to break the seal of the bead and then hook the other end around a spoke to remove a tire.

Wheels 

Axles: This is the piece of metal that connects the wheel to the hub.

Fenders: Curved material that fits to your frame and your wheels to protect you from road grit, rain and snow. They can be fully installed or removable, depending on your preference and climate.

Hub: the center of a bike wheel.

Quick Release: This mechanism looks like a switch and keeps a piece of a bike (usually a wheel or seat post) connected to the bike without using tools. They are great for you to use – but also great for bike thieves. Always lock a quick release!

Spokes: These guys radiate from the center (hub) of the wheel to the rim and keep the wheel circular by staying tightened at the same level

Have any more terms you either don’t understand or think I should include? Drop me a line in the comments.

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Taking Chances and Making Mistakes

One of the biggest challenges in the world is to gracefully take responsibility for a mistake. This is the case for personal errors and organizational ones. How we deal with mistakes in our lives can be the difference between personal happiness, getting that new job,  making a relationship work and getting off the phone with IT feeling like you accomplished something.

On a personal level, I always advocate taking responsibility when you should, even when it isn't your fault. If your partner is having a rough day and it's easier for you to take the blame on something inconsequential -- do it. If your little brother forgot to take out the trash or walk the dog and he just can't handle being yelled at -- take the blame and make sure he learns his lesson. You don't want to create a situation where someone cant take care of themselves, but it's also an issue of just moving things along in life. If it's not a big deal and you know it doesn't really matter, then be the hero. Note: this does not apply for huge problems! If your younger sister is getting arrested that she definitely did and you know it -- probably let her take the wrap. 

On an organizational level, I believe that pretty much every mistake (within reason) made by an employee should be assigned to their manager and every accomplishment should be shared out from management on down. In other words, a good manager takes responsibility for the team's errors and pushes any accolades for themselves to their team as a whole. A good manager trains and coordinates people in a way that sets them up for success -- and readjusts when that isn't the case.

Most importantly, everyone should learn from a mistake, not just the person who made it. Assigning responsibility isn't anywhere near as important as avoiding the mistake in the future. First, you need to figure out what went wrong and why. Then assess how you can take your current situation and transforming it into where you want to be. Can you skip the mistake the next time by short circuiting the steps that didn't work? Then do it!

Everyone messes up, but not everyone is able to recover from an error without losing their cool. And, at least in my opinion, losing your cool is basically the worst thing you can do after a mistake happens. How does freaking out, yelling, panicking or making any type of scene really help the situation? 

My solution? Don't panic and remember that everyone who takes chances also makes mistakes and gets messy. And if you aren't taking risks, then you might want to start -- risk taking is important for personal growth, innovation, creativity and happiness!

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Viral Loops, Social Media and Web 2.0

I'm always interested in learning more about the Internet and the software and hardware that make it the revolutionary tool that our society has come to rely on so heavily. As much as I find technology interesting, I'm not always enthralled by books that talk about the history of the Internet and technology. So many of them are dry, boring and absolute pains to get through -- which is just bizarre! Access to the Internet is now being considered a right and not a privilege, so it seems ridiculous that so few people actually know what flows in the tubes inside the interwebz.

Enter Viral Loop: From Facebook to Twitter, How Today's Smartest Businesses Grow Themselves by Adam L. Penenberg, an incredibly readable hybrid of business, marketing and technology writing.

I picked my copy at the local library, thinking it might be a somewhat interesting read to skim. I start it earlier today and have already flown through nearly half the book. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in how word of mouth marketing works, as well as how to apply it to a business with access to the Internet.

The book covers more than just Facebook -- it also talks about Tupperware, how Internet browsers developed and how people leveraged the new technology of the 1990s into millions of dollars by understanding human behavior (and being pretty damn skilled/lucky). 

One thing to note before you take Viral Loop to heart: it was written in 2009, so it's not exactly cutting edge. While I'm really enjoying this book and its discussion of marketing theory, recent tech history and how they collide in the real world, the last five years really show in its lack of discussion of mobile applications and some of the companies that are examined.

If you've read it or think you want to read it, comment away and tell me what you think!

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Managing Your Stress

I've been radio silent over the past two weeks as I went through a cross country move, which was quite a stressful time! Now that we're setting up the new apartment, have wifi and I've got a desk, it felt like the right time to get back to the blog and talk about something that's been on my mind: stress and productive ways to deal with it.

Modern life can be overwhelming. We have so many different contact points with so many different people that it’s easy to feel completely outdone by your surroundings. This past year, I felt really overwhelmed at work and in school. Both had been really stressful and not very rewarding in the short-term – a recipe for stress and feeling terrible. I had a pit in my stomach for the longest time, feeding on my stress and unhappiness. One day, I had to look at myself and decide to either be a miserable person or figure out my stress levels.

First and foremost, I had to accept what was happening and figure out what my end goal was. If I didn’t like work and school, what did I want instead? Did I want to finish my degree or quit? What was my optimal situation? Once I know my big goal was feeling way less stressed, I knew that I could start to move forward.

I had to let go of my intense emotional attachment to what was happening – potentially losing my 4.0 or not feeling appreciated – and learn to appreciate what I had. Once I did that, I could start to focus on myself and not the crap making me feel awful.

The next big step is self-care: moving around, eating right and drinking calming tea instead of heavy caffeine always does me a world of good. I went on a real lavender kick, especially with chamomile and lemongrass. Meditation, yoga, running and long walks are all awesome ways to bring the stress ball in the pit of your stomach into the light and out of your life.

The best way to manage stress is to take care of yourself and love yourself.

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Taking a Leap

Being comfortable is great. It’s awesome knowing what’s expected of you and knowing that you can deliver. Everything is doable and nothing is particularly scary because it’s all something that you’ve done before. On top of that, you have a support network – be it at work, in your personal life or from your curling league (or whatever activity or hobby you prefer).

 That’s all great. It’s also boring, potentially suffocating and probably not a great space for learning or improving yourself in any major way.

 I’m taking a lot of leaps in a lot of different ways in the next month. I’m changing jobs, changing states and changing marital statuses to embark on a new life with my partner. I also sold my house and finished graduate school. To say that the past few months have been eventful would be an understatement.

 Freaking out over the change would be easy. Deciding you can’t take it and didn’t ask for it and shouldn’t have to deal with it is easy and dishonest. It’ll also make you hate yourself in the end because when given a golden opportunity to change and grow, you decided to complain and shrink.

 Relinquishing control isn’t exactly what you need to do either, although it’s certainly appealing. Instead of leaving your life and the sudden changes up to luck, it’s important to take stock of what’s happening and what you can control. If something is within your power to positively change or affect – do it. If it’s something beyond what you can handle or take charge of, freak out for a minute, relax and move on.

 In event planning, a lot of stuff can go wrong, from issues with food to terrible weather. Human beings can only fix so much, which makes it even more important to focus on what you can fix and let everything else sort itself out. If you spend all your energy screaming at the catering staff for bringing the wrong food, you won’t have time to fix the issue by running to the grocery store. Similarly, if you channel your inner King Lear and rage at the storm, you won’t have time to get tents or move the event indoors.

 Move forward graciously and happily into the future – or at least fake it until you feel gracious and happy and stop feeling freaked out.

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But more importantly, there is a shared theme of humanism that runs through both Pratchett and Vonnegut’s work, that brings life and meaning to all the absurdity that occurs within. Both authors’ books are full of enormously foolish characters who make terrible decisions, but who are always treated with the love due them as members of the human (or dwarf, or troll) race. Both men valued human choice, even as they mocked the follies those choices could provoke. Both employed a deep cynicism about what people were capable of at their worst, while never losing the hope of seeing them at their best. And both shared a belief that there was no human doctrine or dogma more important than treating others with kindness. Meanwhile, Pratchett’s best book, Small Gods, is as thoughtful a treatise on religion, and the ways it can warp, demean, and heighten human behavior, as any fan of Chesterton, the great Christian humanist, could hope to find in modern lit.

Terry Pratchett was fantasy fiction’s Kurt Vonnegut, not its Douglas Adams · For Our Consideration · The A.V. Club I love Terry Pratchett. I love his writing. I love his themes. I love his philosophy. He has brought so much joy to my life and his death has brought me a lot of sadness. If you've never read Terry Pratchett, I really suggest it -- especially if you love absurdist humor and the appreciation of humanity.

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Crying isn’t just about sadness. When we are scared, or frustrated, when we see injustice, when we are deeply touched by the poignancy of humanity, we cry. And some women cry more easily than others. It doesn’t mean we’re weak or out of control. At higher doses, S.S.R.I.s make it difficult to cry. They can also promote apathy and indifference. Change comes from the discomfort and awareness that something is wrong; we know what’s right only when we feel it. If medicated means complacent, it helps no one.

Medicating Women’s Feelings - NYTimes.com This article says a lot about modern life and the way women are viewed and treated in society. I highly recommend reading it.

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Wanting and Doing

Change is coming into my life as I come to the end of my graduate degree. If nothing else, I won't be taking classes and working full time at the same time anymore. It's been two looooooooooong years and I am ready to be normal, non-grad student person.

Change is a lot of things to a lot of people. Change can be exhilarating and it can be awful. 

I've always loved change, especially when it's scary. But right now, I'm hoping for an adventure. I've got a partner I love, a cat who seems to like me and a lot of places where I want to bike. I want to shake up my life and expand myself outside my comfort zones. I've been in the same job for three years and I've had the same basic workschoolhectic schedule for two years, it's time to leap. 

I want to explore. I want to become a minimalist (except for my books). I want to be vegetarian again. I want to write a book and learn to code and be a runner and impress myself with how much positive change I've put into my life.

Here's to moving from wanting to doing.

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Getting Back Out There

After a surgery in December, I basically couldn't do anything physical for 6 weeks. It was absolutely frustrating for two big reasons: I had just gotten into running and I wanted to train for a long bike tour this March.

I'm just starting back and it's hard but completely worth it. 

Last Sunday, I went for a 26 mile ride and was so completely wiped out. That used to be a short, not a big deal ride to me. Now? I though I was going to bonk for a hot second. But I'm so happy I did it and I'm so happy I got to stretch my legs.

Last night I ran for the first time since December 12th. It was hard -- much harder than I'd like to admit. But it was also rewarding to feel the tension in my legs and my lungs burn. It felt great to come home and know that I'd done something that I'm not very good at, but that I'm getting better at slowly.

I've never been an athletic person. I've never been good at physical activity. I can do strength training, but cardio is so hard for me to commit to without a habit. 

I was forced to break my habit this year, but right now I am relishing rebuilding it.

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This is the call for entries for the final project of my master's degree. I am so excited! Submit if you like or reblog if you're curious and want to ask me a question!

You can find more info here: artrisesavannah.org/recycle-art/ or by emailing [email protected]

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I highly recommend Barbara Tuchman's "A Distant Mirror" for anyone interested in history. It's so funny and compelling, while also being crazy informative. I know so much about life in the 14th century right now, as well as general European history. Also, it crazy reminds me of A Song of Ice and Fire. From the good kings, to the free companies pillaging France to the fear of an apocalypse (winter in ASOIAF, the plague in the 14th century) this book is just crammed full of intrigue. So many history books only follow the nobility, what's super cool about this one is its focus on all levels of society. This is one of my mom's favorite books and now one of my favorites as well. You should read it!