Category: post

Many of us spend much of our days in front of some glowing rectangle. When we wake, we grab one right away. We stare into it hoping to get a jump on whatever responsibilities and expectations were dumped on us overnight. We might then turn on another as we drink our morning coffee, hoping to get “caught up” on information that is mostly meant to distract and not inform. Most of us work all day in front of one, our tasks directed, next steps informed, and labor performed inside the glowing rectangle on our desk. Even those who work in fast food or retail are largely directed by a glowing rectangle telling them who ordered what and what is expected next. We kill time in lines and waiting rooms with the rectangles. We are entertained by them. We sometimes bring our rectangles into bed with us. Because, increasingly, our books are in there.
I’m no different. I grabbed my first rectangle very shortly after waking. I will likely stare into several throughout my day. For work and for pleasure and as a way to simply pass the time. Heck, my regular gas station has them built into the pumps now. My guess is that when one is distracted by the local weather or the two-for-one beef jerky special they tend to buy more gas. In fact, I’m staring into a glowing rectangle right now. Tapping away at the illuminated screen. Convincing myself that this is the best way to write about them. That, if wisdom is born of knowledge and experience then, right now, this rectangle is supplying both.
Yet, I’m going to present myself with a small challenge this week. One you may wish to take on yourself. It is a modest change but one that, hopefully, will lead me to see if if makes difference enough to expand. I’m going to avoid glowing rectangles as much as I can for one hour after I wake up and one hour before I go to bed. If I need to write or work or wish to read, I have plenty of non-glowing rectangles for that. And, if that is not enough, I have plenty of other non-glowing shapes that would benefit from my increased engagement. I know that my soul might benefit from staring into the dark circle that is my morning coffee for some quiet contemplation.
I’m going to see if this makes any positive difference for the week ahead. And, if it does, perhaps I’ll next try a bit more.

For the past few months I have been a happy subscriber to The Listserve. The Listserve operates like an email lottery. Every day, one person is chosen from its list of subscribers and given the chance to say anything they want to the rest (currently more than 20,000). What people choose to say is always interesting to me. It is sometimes very personal. Sometimes funny. Sometimes controversial. Sometimes inspirational. Sometimes someone just shares their favorite recipe or movie. And, that is the fun, it could be almost anything.
That said, I have noticed a trend. It seems that people who live in small towns in distant countries from the US almost always want to share a bit about where they live and what life is like there. Especially if that place has seen recent rough times. Almost always, there is a sense of hope and resolve in their descriptions. One that says the place they live is not perfect, but they love it because it is home.
I find it further interesting that I see little of this from those here in the United States. Perhaps we tend to assume everyone knows. Maybe it’s hubris or the knowledge that our primary export is our culture. I’m not sure why. But I see few people from here using their opportunity to describe what life is like where they live to others on the list.
I think this is a missed opportunity. I would bet that those who’s small country I now know a bit more about would love to hear a bit about Saint Paul or West Bend or Missoula and why we call this home. I bet they would be as surprised and delighted as I am when I see their home through their eyes. To feel just a little bit less far away from wherever they are.

Love is a process.
Love is a commitment to the process.
Love takes a love of the process.
Love falters when the the process becomes misaligned. That is to say, when one side is either further ahead or farther behind in the process.
Love falters when either side is not committed to the process. That is to say, of keeping the process on track.
Love falters when either side no longer loves the process. That is to say, when either side is unwilling to do the work that love takes.
Love that is immediate, quick, instant, or effortless is likely not love. Love is not a sensible default. Love is a final choice. You may know that love is possible right away and you may begin on the process immediately, but you will not yet know what love means or what the process holds.
Love is slow. Love takes time. Love takes effort and commitment. Love means a love of that effort and commitment. Love means taking the time to build and know and love the process.
Love is a process.

If the Internet is any indication, there is plenty of how-to out there. There are plenty of posts and sites that can tell you, step-by-step or in enumerated ways, how to do something. What I tend to see less of, and wish to see more of, is what-for.
Every how-to should lead with the what-for. Why this is important. Why you should do it. Why this way and not another way. Why these steps in this order. Why these things and not some other things.
We need less hows and more whys.
Those who give the how-to are not entirely at fault here. The what-for is often assumed. Of course, people know the what-for… That’s why they need the how-to. Right?
Sometimes, perhaps. Often, not. And, even if they do, their what-for is likely different in some way than the what-for you are giving the how-to about. This is your chance to share why it matters to you the giver. It may make a world of difference to the receiver.
So, if you are in the business of giving a how-to, lead with the what-for. Because, I argue that the how-to is meaningless without the what-for. The what-for is what gives the how-to a reason to exist.
I’m a writer. Writing is how I make this world better, friendlier, stronger place. If these words improved your day, please let me know by contributing here.

Or |aseyn|referrer|daart
so it seems. I’ve been guesting on a ton of podcasts lately that I think are worth checking out if you have the time to listen.

• Mikes On Mics – Episode 65: Creating in Public with Patrick Rhone — Where I talk about the behind the scenes story on how a simple post on App.net became a book in under a week. I talk about the process, the motivation, and how this actually supports another book I’m working on. There is a lot to unpack in this one… A lot. It gets really deep near the end when we talk about the difference between writing a “how to” versus a “what for”.

• 15 Minutes With Patrick Rhone: Apple Consultant and Writer (Part 1 of 2) – Que Broadcasting — Where in I talk a bit more about being an Apple Consultant and my motivations for sharing.my years of knowledge with the world. This is the first part of a two part series (the other should be up next week).

• Systematic #38 with Patrick Rhone – BrettTerpstra.com — I talk to Nerd God Brett about everything from GORUCK to Google Glass. It was really fun to do this one. Especially so because I’ve had the tremendous opportunity to meet Brett in person a few times now, we live in the same state, and consider him a friend.

• Enough – Ep 200 – A Retrospective — Of course, I would be remiss if I did not mention the recently recorded 200th episode of my own podcast. Myke and I spend most of it reflecting on how the show has grown and evolved over the over two years we’ve been doing it. Quite proud of this milestone and what Myke and I have created (and I never could have done it without him).

I know you are thinking, “Gosh. Can it get any more boring?”
I’m thinking, “Do you really want me to answer that question?”
How did I become a writer? I learned to write at age 4 or 5 and then just never stopped. As a teenager, I self published a book of the most angst ridden crappy poetry the world will likely ever see and found the courage — the audacity — to sell it. To people I liked! As a young man at the dawn of the Internet, I co-wrote a zine, posted half-baked prose on a BBS, and emailed my work to my friends on AOL. I co-wrote and published a general interest magazine for handheld devices. No matter my occupation or job, I never let it get in the way of writing — making art and putting it out there — every day.
If you want to get better at your art, you have to make your art every day. If you want your art to spread and gain an audience, you have to put what you make out there into the world. And, more often than not, that means looking for something to inspire that art. Some days, that may mean some deep, soul moving, insight never before explored. Some days, it may be blogging your breakfast¹. Some days that means the great stuff. Some days that means the less than great stuff. Some days that means the truly boring stuff. But you have to find the courage to put it out there for others to see, share, shred, or otherwise speculate on it. You often may not like what you hear but you take it and go back and make more art tomorrow.

That is what really matters. Not the time. Not the pace. Not the wall that I seems to hit between mile nine and ten where I just could not keep my heart rate down and thus fatigued easily.

But, I finished. I ran 13.1 miles. The longest I have ever run before is 10k. So, I managed to run more than double my longest distance. I can be proud of that. That’s what matters.

It was a beautiful day. Sunny, 70 degrees, light breeze. It was so nice just to be outside with the sun kissing the skin. It is the first big run of the season so it is very popular. There were 1196 other people running the half marathon portion alone.

I’m hooked now. I’ve already signed up for the half portion of the Minneapolis Marathon in early June, As I said yesterday, I did next to no training for this last one. I’ll not make that same mistake next time. Now that I know I can run that distance, I’ll keep doing so and work on increasing my time.

If I can offer any inspiration at all regarding my own journey, please remember that I have been at this with any seriousness at all for only a little bit more than a year. I’m certain, based on my own condition, that anyone can do it. It’s a beautiful world. Get out there and run in it.

I’ll be running the Get In Gear Half Marathon this weekend. This will be my first half marathon. My feelings on it are positive in general but still somewhat mixed. Let me explain.
See, I have done very little in the way of training. The reasons are several. The weather here has still been winter like. Temps in the low thirties and snow as recently as two nights ago. I usually have no issue with running in winter weather when it’s winter. But I’m so sick of it by this point that I absolutely refuse to run in it in the spring. Furthermore, I hate running on the treadmill. I find them disorienting and unrealistic. I can only do a couple of miles before I start feeling like a hamster.
In addition to this, I did not expect my overall recovery after the GORUCK Challenge to take as long as it has. It was not until about the end of last week that my knees finally felt well enough to get out there for any real distance at all. I’ve run a couple of times since, no more than 5k, and that was a challenge and much slower than my pre-GORUCK training pace.
Now, as an aside, I want to explain that I purposely put this half-marathon on the schedule for a month after the Challenge. In fact, I plan to put some big thing to train for about every month or so (next I’m heavily pondering is the Minneapolis Half Marathon in early June). The fact is that if I have nothing big to train for I fear I will lose the motivation to keep it up at all.
But, like I said, my feelings on this weekend’s half marathon are actually positive and optimistic.
First of all, I not only underestimated the recovery time I would need following the Challenge but I also underestimated how much it would change me mentally. A couple of days ago, I decided to break the “no running a week before the race” rule than many subscribe to and decided to go out and run a 10k. Not only did I keep near my regular 10k pace but I also found myself able to mentally push myself past points I would have slowed down or, even, walked it out for a bit in the past. It is often said that the GORUCK Challenge is all mental but you can’t really understand that until you do one. Then you get the idea of what it takes, mentally, to push past fatigue and discomfort. To “embrace the suck” as they say. Also, what it takes, mentally, to just keep going with no know end in sight. Eventually, you just forget about it ever ending, enter a state that is quite similar to meditation, and just let your mental auto-pilot take over. I experienced this once again on this 10k run. I got finished and felt like I still had plenty of fuel left to burn.
And, here is another thing I know. The Challenge took me 15 miles with a 45 pound ruck on my back and carrying parking barriers and logs for most of that in a thunderstorm. Therefore, I know I can run 13.1 miles with nothing but shorts and a shirt on. Even if I had to walk it I know I can complete it.
Lastly, it is forecast to be a beautiful day. The first we have had in a long time. Temps near 70 and sunny. What better way to enjoy it than with a great scenic morning run and 1500 fellow runners doing the same? I even have a few friends running the half as well and hope to meet up with them before or after.
So, I know this is a lot of “Inside Baseball” but, really, it is all just a note-to-self that says, “You got this. You’ll be fine.”

I’m home today with a sick little girl so I won’t be getting much writing done. This is the first time since I’ve been writing daily that I’ve had to deal with this situation. In fact I’m not even typing this I’m using Siri on my iPad mini in order to transcribe it because I have a little girl sitting on my lap. Therefore I think today is the perfect day for me to take a day off. My focus needs to be on her right now.
See you tomorrow.