Wednesday, December 27, 2017
Sunday, December 17, 2017
What I Learned From Riding my Bike
Ever since I was a kid, I wanted to learn how to ride my bike without holding the handlebars. Whenever I saw another kid riding their bike with no hands, I thought it was the coolest thing in the world, and if I learned, I would be cool too. There was one problem though. Whenever I let go of the handlebars, I would instantly lose my balance, and would latch back on to the bars. Frustrated, I gave up the pursuit and rode around like a normal kid. Looking like a dork who used the handlebars.
Fast forward to now, and I can ride a bike with no hands. I even have the ability to take turns without holding anything. I feel like I am one with my bicycle, and only through practice was I able to learn how. I would let go of my handlebars for one second. Reset. Another second. Reset. Next time two seconds. Reset. Until I was riding down the street and able to reset when I wanted to.
This experience taught me a little something about persistence, and the widely known idiom, "practice makes perfect." As a child I was never very persistent. I would give up if the task did not come naturally to me, but I have learned that anything worthwhile takes time and effort to master. In this case, it was riding a bike with no hands. I've learned that if you want to learn a new skill or talent, all it takes is time and practice, and you will be able to do it.
Walking on my hands, playing the drums, drawing, twirling drumsticks, using Premiere Pro; these are all things I wanted to learn how to do, but the only way to learn them would be to practice. Over and over again. I think it all starts with a mindset. Instead of thinking "this is impossible," or "I'll never be able to do this;" it is better to think in terms of "I may not be able to do this today, or even tomorrow, but eventually I will."
Right now I am working on a video project for TGC, and I need to learn how to use Premiere Pro in order to finish the project. As anyone who has ever used Premiere Pro probably remembers, Premiere is an extremely intimidating and daunting program at first glance. But instead of letting that discourage me, I just think that within a month's time, I'll be using the program like a pro. And the same philosophy can be applied to just about anything. You just need to be willing to invest the time, and effort.
This may all sound obvious but I feel too often we get discouraged by things we don't know how to do. But by the laws of nature the more you do something, the better you will become. We just need to find the will to be persistent in our endeavors, and to keep picking up that guitar or skateboard or whatever else it may be.
Fast forward to now, and I can ride a bike with no hands. I even have the ability to take turns without holding anything. I feel like I am one with my bicycle, and only through practice was I able to learn how. I would let go of my handlebars for one second. Reset. Another second. Reset. Next time two seconds. Reset. Until I was riding down the street and able to reset when I wanted to.
This experience taught me a little something about persistence, and the widely known idiom, "practice makes perfect." As a child I was never very persistent. I would give up if the task did not come naturally to me, but I have learned that anything worthwhile takes time and effort to master. In this case, it was riding a bike with no hands. I've learned that if you want to learn a new skill or talent, all it takes is time and practice, and you will be able to do it.
Walking on my hands, playing the drums, drawing, twirling drumsticks, using Premiere Pro; these are all things I wanted to learn how to do, but the only way to learn them would be to practice. Over and over again. I think it all starts with a mindset. Instead of thinking "this is impossible," or "I'll never be able to do this;" it is better to think in terms of "I may not be able to do this today, or even tomorrow, but eventually I will."
Right now I am working on a video project for TGC, and I need to learn how to use Premiere Pro in order to finish the project. As anyone who has ever used Premiere Pro probably remembers, Premiere is an extremely intimidating and daunting program at first glance. But instead of letting that discourage me, I just think that within a month's time, I'll be using the program like a pro. And the same philosophy can be applied to just about anything. You just need to be willing to invest the time, and effort.
This may all sound obvious but I feel too often we get discouraged by things we don't know how to do. But by the laws of nature the more you do something, the better you will become. We just need to find the will to be persistent in our endeavors, and to keep picking up that guitar or skateboard or whatever else it may be.
Monday, December 4, 2017
On the Short Story Written by My Brain
About a fortnight ago, I had what is now the third installment of a recurring dream. Rather, the theme is recurring, and the content changes ever so slightly with each iteration. In each subsequent chapter, my dream-self is aware the previous dream took place, and the story slowly develops whenever my brain decides to write a new chapter.
The first chapter started off with a POV shot of me in my Mazda 3, shifting rapidly through the gears as I reflected on how fast my fellowship passed by. When I woke up, it took me a moment to discern my dream from reality, as this dream will soon manifest itself into reality.
The next chapter was nearly identical, except for the fact I knew I had dreamt the previous car scene. In the second chapter I was fully aware of the fact I had a previous dream about being in my Mazda, reflecting once again how fast my time in Cambodia passed me by. It felt even more realistic as I was at home, thinking to myself the dream had become reality. But alas, I woke up.
The third (and currently final) chapter in this book of dreams was unique in the sense there was no Mazda; yet I knew of the times I had dreamt about it. I was walking around a surreal, dreamlike version of home, filled with the desire to drive my Mazda and live out the dream I had had what felt like many times before. I'm excited to see what the next chapter will bring, as there is nothing quite like a dream you are sure will come true.
It is hard to wrap my mind around the fact I am past the halfway mark. In my mental timeline, December is the end of an era, and January will start anew. At the time of this writing it is December 4th...and I still cannot grapple with the fact the fellowship will be over in a few short months. The adjustment period is long over, and there is nothing left but to do as much as we can with the strong footing Sydney and I now have.
I realized that many of the things I abhor about Cambodia, I will miss when I return to the states. Instead of complaining about the communication issues that simply wouldn't happen back home, I laugh. I laugh because they won't be there when I go home. There are many situations which are irritating in the moment, but if you just take a second and think about its impact a week, or even two hours later, you can laugh rather than get upset. If you stub your toe now, a week later you won't even remember it happened. And if you do, you'll most likely get a nice chuckle out of it.
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