Lighten Up While You Still Can, Don't Even Try to Understand

Blessed to acknowledge the simple and beautiful things in life...

New canvas ballet shoes. Dance notes. Sleeping cats. Alley cats that seek shelter from the storm. Super Dank. Little friends that sit next to me in the booth, drinking soda from a wine glass and eating french fries. Neighbors that care. Habits being forgotten. Whip rolls?! Chamois butter. Sunday morning ballet class. A great base tan. Sunscreen. Proper tools. How to fall over during wind gusts...in 5 o'clock traffic. How to ride with one arm, safely. Multi-tasking on the trainer. Long flat roads. Granny gear for those not so flat roads. Clipped in and out of the saddle. Getting schooled in how to crash properly. Purple casts. Night rides. Long rides followed by red wine, energy bites and bare feet. Classes on buttery hubs, headsets, bottom brackets, cables and housing...and...most importantly, how to fix a flat tire! Being able to lace and true my own wheels. Riding to class, checking out Treefort, and having breakfast with new friends. Time and circumstance. Things working out just as they should. Hitch bolts. Friends with boxes. Smiles from the car door. V8 Juice. BBQ with family. Friends being recognized for a job well done. Coffee in an oversized mug. A group hug to end the week...every week! Music. Hot tub time machines. Simple offers of love that come from an outstretched hand in the car. Friends having job interviews. Hello Fresh meals. Chaco tan lines! Afternoon beer with the neighbors on a sunny Saturday. 10 Barrel. Dinner with mom. Dancers that practice. Vintage tights! Practice charts. Opportunities in Vale, Oregon. Pointe Shoe fittings...for the first time! Adventure Cycling maps. Sun. Friends that care. Brothers help. Moms love.

What to Leave In, What to Leave Out

I can't pinpoint when it happened, but what started as a rose and a thorn being shared at the dinner table morphed into a notebook of daily in-between moments...I guess that is exactly what in-between moments are about though! Unplanned and of an unknown sort, yet so very important in the grand scheme of BIG things.

Every day I write down an in-between moment; I've never been at a loss for finding one, and some days I recognize many. I can say, this little ritual never gets missed and I look forward to it each and every day! It literally takes me 2 seconds. There is nothing glamorous about my dressed down (sometimes messy, sometimes funny, but always real) in-between moments. They aren't the BIG or trivial or cool moments that some of us tend to share on social media. They are just daily happenings that I find significance with.

Last night as I walked out of the studio with a plastic vase of hand picked flowers I stopped for a moment...I stood on the sidewalk in awe that the day was done, I was able to see the sun setting, I had a living object in my hand, I could hear the sounds in the distance...and I was feeling overcome with gratitude. Such simple pleasures of standing on the sidewalk and just being for a brief moment, something that I had not done on that particular sidewalk before, although I had stood in that exact spot thousands of times. I sat down for a moment to take it in and sent a text message...today, I hope something has reminded you of how blessed you are! I got a picture response of a dandelion being held by a daughter as she snapped a shot of her daddy on his bicycle in the background. Such small, simple pleasures surround us when we take a moment to savor it...

I got home and immediately wrote down my in-between moment of the day. And for the first time, I decided to flip through and revisit the previous moments...all of them. Life is far from perfect, yet it is imperfectly beautiful. We strive so hard to create ourselves...we set schedules, do what is necessary, work, play, make excuses, inspire people, take vacation, make things...and sometimes we find that in this creation we actually lose grasp of who we really are. I challenge you to take a moment to stand on the sidewalk for more than one second, take it in. Listen to the breeze when you walk outside. Feel your feet in the grass. Find shapes in the clouds. Ultimately, find the moments that are noteworthy in your narrative. Remember that the narrative is yours only. Write it down, if you desire. Just love your moments. Live them fully.

A Life Lived Much Too Fast to Hold Onto

Her outstretched hand rested palm up on the arm rest, not a word was said with her voice...but her eyes told a different story as I asked her, "What?"...she shook her hand one time. I immediately knew she was asking for me to love her, to reach out and hold her. As her fingers intertwined with mine I gave her a squeeze and gently rolled her hand over. We drove like that, in silence, with smiles beaming widely, for some time. She had no idea that her 6 year old heart had completely made my day.

And everything is ok in the universe. 

Like a Band of Gypsies we go Down the Highway

 

Who knew 4 months would fly by so quickly? The amount of knowledge that I've gained over the 12 or so BYOB (bring your own bike) classes at Boise Bicycle Project has been absolutely priceless. Bittersweet to have the end come so soon. The end that is really just the beginning of a life enriched by the know how to fix my own flat, lace a wheel, rebuild hubs and overhaul headsets. Its having the knowledge to know the importance of tick of play, and understanding the difference between index and friction shifting. It is the ease in which I learned how to hang my bike on the rack during that first class...the friends made...the tools used...the knowledge shared...the chips and beers enjoyed...the beauty in fixing something with my own two hands.

Thank you BBP! You have a member for life! Your work reaches and touches so many people, from so many walks of life. Never did it matter what kind of bike rolled into class, from carbon with electronic shifting to department store and everything in between - you never once passed judgement. Kudos to providing an atmosphere and space that is truly open and accepting of all!  So many non-profits are self-serving...but not you, not at all.