Monthly Archives: March 2008

Hanging up and starting over (cue the music)

Posted on March 31, 2008 by | Comments Off

I know you’re out there. I can feel you now. I know that you’re afraid. You’re afraid of us. You’re afraid of change. I don’t know the future. I didn’t come here to tell you how this is going to end. I came here to tell you how it’s going to begin. I’m going to hang up this phone, and then I’m going to show these people what you don’t want them to see. I’m going to show them a world … without you. A world without rules or controls, without borders or boundaries. A world where anything is possible. Where we go from there is a choice I leave to you.

Neo in “The Matrix”

Sometimes I wish I could hang up the phone and start over (cue the music) as in the movie “The Matrix,” and today, in essence, that is what I am doing as I begin this new blog.

Over the last three years, I’ve had – until this blog – a total of seven blogs. The original idea for this blog was to collapse the three blogs I had at the time into one blog, but that idea has evolved since then into:

  1. a portal to three other blogs of mine where I focus on three different elements of myself: body, mind and soul (you can find portals to those three blogs on the left sidebar).
  2. a way to look at those three different elements through different prisms with different themes on different days, hence, Movie Monday, Tuesday’s Tunes, Wordsmith Wednesdays, Thirsty Thursday, Feetfirst Friday, Sassy Saturday and Sustenance Sunday.
  3. to provide links to blogs that deal with those three elements.

…until next time, look forward to seeing you all on my new blog (so sorry if it’s a little unfinished as I begin here, but such is the nature of life — at least, my life anyway).

Extra: While I haven’t read it yet, so I can’t vouch for it, I did come across this link: The Philosophy behind the Matrix, which fit with one of the first ideas I had for this blog.

So as Rage Against The Machine says, “Come on. Ughhh!” as Rage says.

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Posted in Body, Mind, Movies, Music

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Finishing the unfinished things

Posted on March 31, 2008 by | 1 Comment

For see the winter is over, the rains are gone. “

Song of Songs 2:11

One of the suggested readings was the one above. Ironically, as I write this, it is raining and it is a cold rain. Snow is still expected later this week. On Wednesday, I began the fourth week, a time for celebration and it seems like since then, I have had every reason not to celebrate, especially Friday night.

That is the night our computer died — suddenly, unexpectedly, as if they succumb when you expect it!? First thought: money. How will we afford fixing it or replacing it. We are broke with no relief in sight. Second thought: How do I get stories to paper with no computer? I am at a loss. What of what is on the computer? Writings that are there? Poetry, journal entries? Lesser thought: blogging.

Sunday, I awaken with a thought on how I leave everything unfinished: unfinished stories, unfinished poems, unfinished projects, unfinished exercise routines, unfinished thoughts…I write in a journal about leaving things unfinished and realize that there are things I have finished, and will be finishing, even if I don’t realize it.

  1. I had a goal to finish a marathon by the time I was 40. While technically not true, in terms of effort exerted and a total elevation gain of 5,000 feet, when I completed the 24.9 mile Bald Eagle Mountain Megatransect, I did complete a marathon.
  2. The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola: I began this in September 2007 and will finish it, at least in terms of the physical duration, next month in May 2008. Thus I will have finished this. True, the work that has begun here will not be finished. It is only just beginning…as the next verse Song of Songs 2:12 says, “The time of pruning the vines has come.” But the timeframe of the Spiritual Exercises will be finished.

So based on these two thoughts, I decide that my Just A (Running) Fool blog has run its course, pun intended, and that this blog here will end in May. I will continue my blogging on one blog: Unfinished Person In An Unfinished Universe.

I am always talking about my blogs with my spiritual director, to the point where she must think that I am a total narcissist and if you are reading this, you may think so too. I even began a fourth blog to point back to my other three blogs: me, me, me, look at me. But in other way, I (again, look at me) believe that my “struggle” (such as it is) with blogging is a snapshot of my psychological profile: of how I’m trying to integrate all these different parts of myself, body, mind and soul, into one person who is not finished. And in turn, how we all try to become complete people, integrating all the different parts of ourselves into one cohesive whole.

In the Song of Songs, the verses above are set within a quote, which begins with “My lover speaks; he says to me.” All those verses are as a lover spoken to his bride or as God to the writer or as God to me or even, not that it’s all about me, you. “Let me see you, let me hear your voice, for your voice is sweet and you are lovely,” verse 14 says.

God invites us to find our true authentic self, our true voice, who and how we really are: We are lovely in His sight…

…even if we are unfinished, He sees us as finished.

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Posted in Soul

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Revise, revise, revise: A new schedule

Posted on March 27, 2008 by | 1 Comment

For months now I’ve self-imposed a schedule that hasn’t worked. It is as follows: Monday, Wednesday, Saturday, Sunday – run; Tuesday, Thursday, strength training and Friday, off; with the addition of Wednesday as a “no-computer” day.

Today is Thursday and a new twist to the mix this week: getting up to exercise by 6:30 a.m. Monday through Thursday: has dwindled by now rationalizing to getting up 15 minutes later each morning as the week progressed. Monday, I was up at 6 a.m. and made it to the gym by 6:30 to get a good run in on the treadmill and elliptical. Tuesday, I was up at 6:15 a.m., but after getting ready to go to the gym, I decided I wouldn’t have enough time to get in a lengthy enough workout to make it worthwhile for me to go so I “bagged” it and then because of work commitments didn’t make it in afternoon either. Yesterday, I was up at 6:30 a.m. and then didn’t run until 8:30 a.m. because it was dark outside (waaah! and I didn’t have any reflective clothing). Today, I was up at 6:45 a.m. and too late for the gym, which closes at 7:30 a.m.

It seems like for me and I’ve noticed for some others, the real “Hump Day” isn’t Wednesday but Thursday. The let-down comes on Thursday. As a result, this morning I’ve decided instead of fighting it, I’m going to let it happen. Let the let-down happen naturally. Give in to the let-down for one day. By Thursday, I’m burnt out…so be it.

Let my week begin on a Friday. Run on Fridays, Sundays, Mondays and Wednesday, that way also no more than one day off between runs. Strength train at the gym on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Further breakdown:

  • Friday, short run, starting at 2 to 5 miles, 6:30 a.m. run, preferably gym, treadmill and elliptical, physically the start of the week
  • Saturday, strength training, 8 a.m., gym, 1 1/2 to 2 hour workout
  • Sunday, medium run, starting a 5 to 7 miles, afternoon run 2-4 p.m. mentally and spiritually, leaves time for devotions and Mass in the morning, usually 11 a.m. Mass
  • Monday, short run, starting at 2 to 5 miles, 6:30 a.m. run, preferably gym, treadmill and elliptical (with borough council meeting I cover as correspondent for newspaper at 6 p.m. on second and fourth Mondays, this also works)
  • Tuesday, strength training, 3:30 p.m., gym, 1 1/2 to 2 hour workout (with school board meeting I cover as correspondent for newspaper at 7:30 p.m. on second Tuesdays this also works)
  • Wednesday, long run, starting at 7 to 10 miles, afternoon run 2-4 p.m., also fits in spiritually and mentally with Wednesday being a day off the computer, time for Eucharistic Adoration in morning, running in afternoon and reading and writing in evening when mind is free of distraction of computer
  • Thursday, no exercise, refuel physically and mentally restart week with new blog entries here and on my other two blogs

The main thing is I can focus on my running with this schedule, even if the strength training part gets thrown off, and I start off my days early enough on Fridays and Mondays that if something comes up later in the day, I won’t have an excuse not to run. The only “trick” will be devoting Wednesday afternoon to the long run and letting others know that I will be unavailable during that afternoon and pretty much that day. But I think this is much more workable and flexible than the schedule I self-imposed earlier this year.

(Note: This also does not mean that I will be giving up getting up by 6:30 a.m. To the contrary, I still will be getting up by 6:30 at least Monday through Friday to start my day.)

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Posted in Body, Running

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On my becoming Catholic (newly added page)

Posted on March 26, 2008 by | Comments Off

I am posting a link to a new page: Excerpts from a convert’s journal 1991-1995.

Only recently did I learn that the Rites of Christian Initiation for Adults team where I was “brought into” the Church have been using these journal entries and poems with some of their catechumens that I put together into a package called “On My Becoming Catholic.” I thought it was worth sharing here in its unedited form as I received it in the mail today and without lengthy comment, but just parenthetically, it was interesting to me how these journal entries and poems coincided with this week’s theme of celebration.

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