Dialogic podcast, holiday check-in with the meme-savy people about the week between Xmas and NYE, the taint. Taint nothing but a weird little chunk of surreal time. It’s also a time of mass-reflection, people are pretending to get introspective; it’s resolution time. I want to think about it in a way that could be useful to myself and if it helps me it will help someone else. Upon reflection, I had feedback from a friend that seeing my sweaty selfie posts about pushups inspired her to take her fitness routine seriously and helped her to get back into shape after a back surgery. That alone made it more than worth it. I post my sweaty selfies because you can’t fake that kind of effort and with so much fronting and faking on the Internet I like to show honest moments.
When it comes to the holidays, like with many things, I am of two minds about a lot of it. I like to think that, when this dynamic is well-balanced, it gives me flexibility in my approach to things like the holidays. Sometimes I think we should just skip it and other times I’m ready to go all-in. Meh.
Everyone approaches the holiday with their own style. It’s different as a parent, though. Having a 5-year old daughter with a birthday two weeks before Xmas is a blast because she has such a great time. She loves her presents and she adores spending time with her family. I’m super grateful that I get to be her dad. I always knew that being a dad would be hugely important to me, which is why I waited so long to become one. I didn’t want to do that without the right situation, turns out that for me becoming a parent means that you go all in and do it the best that you can and worry about not doing it as good as you would like to, even though you understand that loving them and loving being a parent is the best thing you can do. I feel super grateful about being a dad.
When you have a kiddo, it’s all different, so shout out to all the parents out there doing their best to figure it all out. Unconditional love, how do we do it better, more consistently?
I like to talk because I feel that I have something to say, that I have a voice and I want to exercise my voice to become stronger, more focused on providing you with value. This podcast is going to be a daily thing, that’s my resolution. It’s going to get a little sillier, a little more focused, a little higher cardio levels, a little more footwork footwork footworkish.
I’m not against resolutions. I think that the world is amazing but imagine if everyone improved even just a little bit. People have a spectrum of behavior, a scale of desirability. From seduction mode to sedated on cold medicine stupor everyone has a range of feelings and styles they exhibit. Resolutions are just choices to strive for one or another version of self. The desire to become more fit is a choice to solidify a version of yourself through habit. You’re choosing to go in one direction instead of another one. You’re not laying on the beach smoking herb with some beautiful friends. There are different values and benefits to any lifestyle. People get confused when making a choice into thinking that one lifestyle is better than another when really you’re just choosing the set of benefits, costs, and consequences that you prefer over the other ones. Choosing fitness means getting discipline, structure, physical ability etc.; however, choosing to be artistic and spontaneous has its own set of rewards. In certain contests between lifestyles there are definitely advantages. The lawn-laying wine drinking artist may be at a disadvantage to fight the physical fitness enthusiast, but when it comes to writing poems, vice versa.
It’s not that one way is better than the other, but that you can’t often do both at the same time. You don’t have to choose one or the other, but you have to schedule the time out. Either at a certain time of day or a certain number of weeks during the year you have to change directions, you have to switch lifestyles. Doing so deliberately gives you an ability to have some control. What do you want to do, how do you want to be? Pick a lifestyle, design a schedule, build a life that suits you. I have the trouble of wanting it all, wanting too much and trying to do way more than is possible. That’s sometimes a good mechanism of growth, but it can also make time management difficult. That’s a lot of people’s problem, I imagine. A little focus can go a long way for many of us and that is why this time of year is relevant, not just a Hallmark Holiday.
In addition to a seasonal reflection, a daily practice is super valuable to keep yourself aligned with your goals.
Looking back on 2018 I see a ton of growth, a huge amount of work accomplished and relationships developed. I feel like in the next 6 months I can really crush it for myself and the brands that I work with because my experience and skill levels are up to a point where I can see the landscape. This year my main goal is to create by any means necessary juicy enough content to create people’s desire to consume it. I want to make better things: photos, videos, writing. I want to pick up some new techniques. I want to work on pans for video, transitions. I think I have a great sense of composition, lighting, and overall form, but it’s the transitions and dynamic shots that I need to work on to become more fluent. I’m super excited following this recent but deep fitness routine and I feel strong and ready to go off.