I've started spinning classes. Stumped by the cold (it is REALLY hard to get outside on a road bike in cold weather) I've started to spin. Spinning is HARD, but it is a HOT hard, not a cold hard. I sweat and spin and, no matter my mood, smile at it all. My teacher is a funny gal, blasting hip hop, gesturing wildly, urging us to increase the resistance, keep up the pace. I imagine climbing over the hills, mountains, facing the winds, the rain, I imagine all of this.
I think of a song we sing at Jubilee, an old Irish drinking song, actually, though its word are motivating:
I will not lie me down, this rain a raging.
I will not lie me down, in such a storm.
And if this night be unblessed
I shall not take my rest
Until I reach the other shore.
So spin class is fun and the ride, too, will be fun (much, or at least some of the time, I hope).
AND I also know there will be parts of it, perhaps much of it, that will be really hard but those hard times will be times for putting my head down (or lifting it up) and carrying on.
No matter what.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Wabi Sabi
I heard the words Wabi Sabi the other day for the first time. Then I saw the words written just this morning, browsing through the top new childrens' books of the season. One is called Wabi Sabi. And then, today, during my glassblowing session, the words popped up again.
Wabi Sabi.
The beauty and profundity of nature, the natural transience of things. Imperfection. I like this, this wabi sabi. Wabi sabi is my theme song of the moment.
Last night and today I was with the PR director of OCNA (Ovarian Cancer National Alliance) sharing with her my story, my wishes for the ride, my highest hopes. I am spent, exhausted, AND thrilled, excited, energized, deeply moved at all that is transpiring. All that has transpired. And all that will.
Today we met with four different people no planned meetings (all the planned meetings got canceled - the universe, no doubt, watching out for us, knowing that traditional meetings would have been boring and staid. These meetings, in contrast, were filled with truth, emotion, love and honesty. These meetings contained more directness than any I might have ever been in. Faryl is young but smart and knew what she needed to know and stood up to the big boys and girls.
Faryl is my newest guardian angel.
I had set everything up. I had it all worked out. I had a plan. And then all of it fell apart. Things changed. The Executive Director, who was supposed to come, couldn't. Our big meeting, which I had been working so hard to do, shattered. Oh well, I tried to console myself, what is, is. This, this that IS, must be right. For it IS. I was not convinced.
But, in fact, what was WAS perfect. Faryl had individual meetings with four key players here and four new relationships have started and four new alliances have formed and all of them are on board with me and the ride and we WILL spread this message and it will matter. It is no longer just in my head. Others are now really a part.
And now, now, I can go sleep.
I'll be in touch.
Wabi Sabi.
The beauty and profundity of nature, the natural transience of things. Imperfection. I like this, this wabi sabi. Wabi sabi is my theme song of the moment.
Last night and today I was with the PR director of OCNA (Ovarian Cancer National Alliance) sharing with her my story, my wishes for the ride, my highest hopes. I am spent, exhausted, AND thrilled, excited, energized, deeply moved at all that is transpiring. All that has transpired. And all that will.
Today we met with four different people no planned meetings (all the planned meetings got canceled - the universe, no doubt, watching out for us, knowing that traditional meetings would have been boring and staid. These meetings, in contrast, were filled with truth, emotion, love and honesty. These meetings contained more directness than any I might have ever been in. Faryl is young but smart and knew what she needed to know and stood up to the big boys and girls.
Faryl is my newest guardian angel.
I had set everything up. I had it all worked out. I had a plan. And then all of it fell apart. Things changed. The Executive Director, who was supposed to come, couldn't. Our big meeting, which I had been working so hard to do, shattered. Oh well, I tried to console myself, what is, is. This, this that IS, must be right. For it IS. I was not convinced.
But, in fact, what was WAS perfect. Faryl had individual meetings with four key players here and four new relationships have started and four new alliances have formed and all of them are on board with me and the ride and we WILL spread this message and it will matter. It is no longer just in my head. Others are now really a part.
And now, now, I can go sleep.
I'll be in touch.
Friday, November 7, 2008
4 months and counting
Oh my! Yesterday was the 4 month mark. Which means that four months from today I'll be riding. I'm trying REALLY hard to stay on track. Suddenly this week all of what needs to happen is creeping up on me. I have to get a grip! Judy, who has done this ride before, says I'll be fine. I've been collecting opinions on training and eating and resting and that sort of thing. Everyone has an opinion - which is good. But I need to filter them all, sort them all, decide what I am going to do, and do it.
And that IS what I'm doing.
My current training regimen is:
Ride on Monday - a long-ish ride.
Go to the gym on Tuesday for core strength work.
Have a Pilates session on Wednesday - again, core work.
Blow glass on Thursday. Not exactly aerobic, but strength building - and fun.
Nothing specific on Friday.
Saturday is a work day.
And on Sunday I go for a long ride.
I'm thinking of adding a spin class on Wednesday and maybe on Friday too. Now that the time has changed, afternoon riding is a bit tricky.
And then there is the food part. I am adjusting my thinking to include better nutrition. Got any advice? I may be about food at work, but that does not mean that I am a great nutrition expert.
In fundraising, I am about to cross the 16,000.00 mark. And this month I am going to contact some corporate sponsor prospects.
It's all good!!!
And that IS what I'm doing.
My current training regimen is:
Ride on Monday - a long-ish ride.
Go to the gym on Tuesday for core strength work.
Have a Pilates session on Wednesday - again, core work.
Blow glass on Thursday. Not exactly aerobic, but strength building - and fun.
Nothing specific on Friday.
Saturday is a work day.
And on Sunday I go for a long ride.
I'm thinking of adding a spin class on Wednesday and maybe on Friday too. Now that the time has changed, afternoon riding is a bit tricky.
And then there is the food part. I am adjusting my thinking to include better nutrition. Got any advice? I may be about food at work, but that does not mean that I am a great nutrition expert.
In fundraising, I am about to cross the 16,000.00 mark. And this month I am going to contact some corporate sponsor prospects.
It's all good!!!
Friday, October 17, 2008
We're off!
Heather helped me collate and fold and stuff a bunch of the fundraising letters last week and I sent out about 100 one day and 100 the next day before running out of stamps and stickers and so I'm back on hold. BUT the first postcards have come back to me, one two days ago and four yesterday and I have actually started raising money which is a thrill.
I sometimes wonder, before a party, if anyone is going to show up. So it is with this project. I feel out on a thin limb here, making this public statement, exposing myself in this way. Already people are talking to me about their story or the story of someone they know and there is a part of me that feels really unprepared to deal with this aspect of this venture. I am not an expert on cancer and don't want to be. But I do feel that paying attention is a good thing so maybe that, simple as it is, is what I have to say. I can say that with authority. My own authority.
I got my bike tuned up. Can't wait to ride it. Can't wait for all of this. At times I feel like I could explode with excitement. This is very very exciting.
Very.
I've been listening to Randy Pausch's "Last Lecture" and in one place he talks about the brick walls being there for a reason. And I agree. I also feel that it is much more possible to get over those brick walls with a team of people. This is one of the lessons from the Outward Bound exercise of climbing over the wall. No one could do that alone. But with help and planning and cleverness and skill and training it does work.
So it is with this ride. I am really not in it alone. It is already much bigger than me. And with two riding partners and two trainers and two sisters and one fabulous bike mechanic and a whole lot of people who are going to be "on my team" this will all come to be.
Life, today, is so very good.
I sometimes wonder, before a party, if anyone is going to show up. So it is with this project. I feel out on a thin limb here, making this public statement, exposing myself in this way. Already people are talking to me about their story or the story of someone they know and there is a part of me that feels really unprepared to deal with this aspect of this venture. I am not an expert on cancer and don't want to be. But I do feel that paying attention is a good thing so maybe that, simple as it is, is what I have to say. I can say that with authority. My own authority.
I got my bike tuned up. Can't wait to ride it. Can't wait for all of this. At times I feel like I could explode with excitement. This is very very exciting.
Very.
I've been listening to Randy Pausch's "Last Lecture" and in one place he talks about the brick walls being there for a reason. And I agree. I also feel that it is much more possible to get over those brick walls with a team of people. This is one of the lessons from the Outward Bound exercise of climbing over the wall. No one could do that alone. But with help and planning and cleverness and skill and training it does work.
So it is with this ride. I am really not in it alone. It is already much bigger than me. And with two riding partners and two trainers and two sisters and one fabulous bike mechanic and a whole lot of people who are going to be "on my team" this will all come to be.
Life, today, is so very good.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
The next step
October 11, 2008
This past week I've spent hours assembling and sending out the mailing for potential funding team members. Heather came and helped the other night and THAT was an enormous help. she is so smart and knew how to build a data base that will put all the names in order by name OR zip OR how much they might pledge or any way I choose. And then it prints them all out on labels and it's all very neat and tidy. It would have taken me days and days to do what she did in an hour or so. Amazing.
Gosh - I might not have mentioned that both NOCC (National Ovarian Cancer Coalition) and OCNA (Ovarian Cancer National Alliance) are on board. NOCC gave me 500 symptom cards, which are tucked into each note that is being sent out. OCNA is going to do a lot too. Karen Kaplan is going to come here and help me figure out what to do. They are going to help spread the word about the ride by putting it up on their web site.
I've decided to learn how to do videos and want to do one after the ride is done. There's a song that has completely grabbed me, "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz. It's a love story, a tale of getting decked by someone. It's very upbeat. AND it seems that one could hear it as a call to action, "I won't hesitate no more, no more, this cannot wait, I'm yours..." It has an irresistible beat and captivating lyrics and I get into my car and play it over and over and over again.
But still, let me repeat, I don't have a video camera, nor do I know how to do movie editing, nor is any of this in my skill set at this point. But yesterday I got a note from someone at OCNA who, completely unsolicited, wrote and told me about a little video camera and offered advice on computers (which one to buy) and also wondered about designing a cycling jersey. All of these things are things I want to do. I had even stopped into the computer store an hour earlier than that to ask them that very thing. And here, with no prompting (well, no conscious prompting) came an answer.
I dragged Heather along with me and we found one of those cameras and that's that. And then I got a catalog in the mail. Yesterday! About new little tiny computers. Amazing. Charley Caste, my psychic friend, said to be wide open and not to limit my thoughts on this. So shall it be.
One more thing. I had lunch with Leslie Boyd from our paper yesterday and they are going to start running a story on the whole project. That will include a blog too. But I will keep this one going as well. Yee-ha!
So pretty soon this blog will get to have little movies.
Fu-UN!
This past week I've spent hours assembling and sending out the mailing for potential funding team members. Heather came and helped the other night and THAT was an enormous help. she is so smart and knew how to build a data base that will put all the names in order by name OR zip OR how much they might pledge or any way I choose. And then it prints them all out on labels and it's all very neat and tidy. It would have taken me days and days to do what she did in an hour or so. Amazing.
Gosh - I might not have mentioned that both NOCC (National Ovarian Cancer Coalition) and OCNA (Ovarian Cancer National Alliance) are on board. NOCC gave me 500 symptom cards, which are tucked into each note that is being sent out. OCNA is going to do a lot too. Karen Kaplan is going to come here and help me figure out what to do. They are going to help spread the word about the ride by putting it up on their web site.
I've decided to learn how to do videos and want to do one after the ride is done. There's a song that has completely grabbed me, "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz. It's a love story, a tale of getting decked by someone. It's very upbeat. AND it seems that one could hear it as a call to action, "I won't hesitate no more, no more, this cannot wait, I'm yours..." It has an irresistible beat and captivating lyrics and I get into my car and play it over and over and over again.
But still, let me repeat, I don't have a video camera, nor do I know how to do movie editing, nor is any of this in my skill set at this point. But yesterday I got a note from someone at OCNA who, completely unsolicited, wrote and told me about a little video camera and offered advice on computers (which one to buy) and also wondered about designing a cycling jersey. All of these things are things I want to do. I had even stopped into the computer store an hour earlier than that to ask them that very thing. And here, with no prompting (well, no conscious prompting) came an answer.
I dragged Heather along with me and we found one of those cameras and that's that. And then I got a catalog in the mail. Yesterday! About new little tiny computers. Amazing. Charley Caste, my psychic friend, said to be wide open and not to limit my thoughts on this. So shall it be.
One more thing. I had lunch with Leslie Boyd from our paper yesterday and they are going to start running a story on the whole project. That will include a blog too. But I will keep this one going as well. Yee-ha!
So pretty soon this blog will get to have little movies.
Fu-UN!
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