September 23rd 2023

This evening on a marker board at the climbing gym the staff posed a question asking what folks were doing for a fall project. There was a wide array of responses. To work out more, build self confidence, ideas for the venue, and quite a few humorous side bars. I’m still not certain what my answer would be yet. In the New Year my resolution was to be more dedicated to the few good practices I’d begun in the months before. Then at the summer solstice I recall imaging myself arriving in autumn and I pictured myself quite differently than I feel today. My future-self is always calm and collected. She goes to the gym everyday and pays every bill on time and never double books herself. And she’s never frazzled. Every joke lands, anytime she speaks her mind it’s something brilliant, and she always says what she means. I would require a hundred summers to transform into that person. So perhaps my summer vision was a bit unrealistic. This morning I was thinking about the significance of intention. Perhaps it isn’t about accomplishing goals or succeeding in social settings but about making every move intentional. That’s how I can tell seasoned rock climbers from beginners, even if they climb the same wall. Climbers who are more practiced-every move is calculated. They know where they will land before they ever lift their hand. Every motion has intention behind it, all the way through the fingertips and toes. So maybe it isn’t about cutting out bad habits or forcing space for new things. Maybe it’s about putting intention behind every motion and even every breath. If you had a fall project what might it be?