Resistance...

Resistance has been the theme for July. There can be good resistance, the kind that pushes you to work harder, get stronger, and overcome. There can also be bad resistance, of a sort that the universe just sort of dishes out in the form of inertia, frustration, and lack. Of course, I don't believe that is true, and I'll get to why in a moment... suffice it to say for now that it has been a good time to reflect on this theme.

It isn't that we haven't been riding. Quite to the contrary. We've been on easy local loops, up and down roads, and even slogging up steep secondary trails into bushwacking territory. Several rides, several runs, some hiking around in the woods, and no pictures. It has been hot. Things aren't as photogenic as they were just a couple weeks ago. The changing of seasons in our new locale is rapid and highly visible.

I've been running late at night to take advantage of the cool air and solitude. Now running fairly consistent (and painless) sub-10 minute miles in the fivefingers, in my usual endurance mode of finding pacing that allows constant forward motion, even if it is slow.

The kids have expressed a measure of preference not to go on certain adventures with Dad. I totally get it, the kids want to do "normal kid things." So we go to the park, read stories, play with toys... that makes Julian happy... and of course Rene is turning 12, with all the attitude that goes with approaching teenage years, and riding bikes with Dad just really isn't a very high priority. Lately, I see him three times a day - oddly enough coinciding with meals - and then he's off doing whatever it is kids do these days.

Also, Julian is increasing his mass to something approaching that of stellar core material, something I am feeling with every pedal stroke as he cannot be convinced to help pedal.

I foresee more solo outings in my future.

In the hottest part of the day I caught myself sneaking a glance at the skis taking up space in the closet. Winter brings a much different aspect to the outdoors, adventuring, and life in general. There seems to be much less resistance. The season is harsh, and the body practically begs me to go hard in order to keep warm. That thought of skinning up snowy slopes and sliding across frozen meadows is deadly poison when I am climbing up singletrack in 90 degree heat. Every brain cell in my head just screaming "WHY?!?!?"

Ancient Chinese philosophy espouses the concept of Wu-wei, or "non-action" as being the way of the Tao, the way of the enlightened. It carries with it this connotation of "doing without forcing" and finding a natural path of least resistance... being like a river which merely follows its natural course, but becomes a nearly unstoppable force in doing so. The modern world has attached various words - however inappropriately - like "flow" and "zen" and "zone" to the experience of this nearly unstoppable feeling when acting in this manner.

So the question remains: if you can find your "zone" several miles into an epic climb and flatten any mountain standing in your way, can you also do this everywhere else? Where does this state of mind go when not cycling, running, or otherwise pushing this body to its limits? In this moment, where is my natural path? How can I be "in the zone" while doing the dishes or typing my blog? The practice of mindfulness certainly points in this direction, and if I am only in this moment with every fiber of my being, then that resistance I was talking about lessens. It diminishes without being subdued, is removed without being forced.

In the end, the only thing pushing back against me..... is me. Attachment, expectation, desire. None of these things are real in the moment, only in the projections of the mind. These are the weights that burden us, that provide that "resistance" to things. "Put it all down," the master instructs. Moment to moment you can accomplish amazing things without carrying all that stuff around.

Okay... simple idea, way too many words. Time for sleeping.