Why do you run? My heart wants to beat faster - plain and simple.
I run because it calms my mind; because I feel weightless and because I have found strength in who I am as a runner. Maybe part of this particular blog should look at how I feel when I don't run. My rationale is sometimes it helps to looks at who you want to be rather then who you are. Here's why - when I don't run I struggle with guilt for not taking care of myself the way I know that my body wants me to. Everyone has some ability to run it depends simply on how the individual wants to develop or not develop it. Sure, some people are talented right off the bat, but the majority of us just have to put in the time and dedication that it takes to make it past what feels like a neverending beginning. It is a struggle - does that make you want to stop? Hopefully not.
When I'm not running I miss how the breeze feels on my face or how drops of rain linger on my checks when it is raining out. There is this place where your thoughts and breathe catch each other and where you are comfortable; where there is an equilibrium - it feels like home. This takes time to find, but when you are there it is worth it. It is fleeting and beautiful, but enough to make you want more. You speed up a little - p u s h - because you ask yourself do I want this run to be comfortable or do I want to fly? Somedays you just want to get through it - you are tired - your legs are begging for the couch but you still need it. On good days your feet are fast - those days for me mean that my thoughts don't wander and I see myself as an athlete. A runner - alive.
I have been trying to find a better balance between my running (which takes up a solid amount of time on a weekly basis) and my artmaking process. I am sure that most people contend with and relate to what they want to do and what there is time to do in each day. These days roll together and accumulate. I am fairly regimented with my running schedule and have found myself thinking that I should have the same dedication and structure to setting aside time for my studio practice. How does this tie together? I think about my running as also creative time. When you sit down to actually work on something (like a drawing) you have an expectation that you are going to create something physical. You want to translate what you see in your mind into something real and tangible. In the work that I do, what I enjoy most in my process is the physicality of the making. That there is a moment of stillness and movement; want and desire that it is tied to time, thought and it's direct translation to something that is itself- like a thread.
When you go running you allow your mind to roam and to experience the world around you, which in turn will make you a stronger artist and person because you are aware of what imagery, thoughts and feelings are in your mind and body. Maybe the run can also be the reset...or vice versa the artmaking is the reset to new ideas that can come freely.
“The only way out is in.”- Junot Díaz
I run because it calms my mind; because I feel weightless and because I have found strength in who I am as a runner. Maybe part of this particular blog should look at how I feel when I don't run. My rationale is sometimes it helps to looks at who you want to be rather then who you are. Here's why - when I don't run I struggle with guilt for not taking care of myself the way I know that my body wants me to. Everyone has some ability to run it depends simply on how the individual wants to develop or not develop it. Sure, some people are talented right off the bat, but the majority of us just have to put in the time and dedication that it takes to make it past what feels like a neverending beginning. It is a struggle - does that make you want to stop? Hopefully not.
When I'm not running I miss how the breeze feels on my face or how drops of rain linger on my checks when it is raining out. There is this place where your thoughts and breathe catch each other and where you are comfortable; where there is an equilibrium - it feels like home. This takes time to find, but when you are there it is worth it. It is fleeting and beautiful, but enough to make you want more. You speed up a little - p u s h - because you ask yourself do I want this run to be comfortable or do I want to fly? Somedays you just want to get through it - you are tired - your legs are begging for the couch but you still need it. On good days your feet are fast - those days for me mean that my thoughts don't wander and I see myself as an athlete. A runner - alive.
I have been trying to find a better balance between my running (which takes up a solid amount of time on a weekly basis) and my artmaking process. I am sure that most people contend with and relate to what they want to do and what there is time to do in each day. These days roll together and accumulate. I am fairly regimented with my running schedule and have found myself thinking that I should have the same dedication and structure to setting aside time for my studio practice. How does this tie together? I think about my running as also creative time. When you sit down to actually work on something (like a drawing) you have an expectation that you are going to create something physical. You want to translate what you see in your mind into something real and tangible. In the work that I do, what I enjoy most in my process is the physicality of the making. That there is a moment of stillness and movement; want and desire that it is tied to time, thought and it's direct translation to something that is itself- like a thread.
When you go running you allow your mind to roam and to experience the world around you, which in turn will make you a stronger artist and person because you are aware of what imagery, thoughts and feelings are in your mind and body. Maybe the run can also be the reset...or vice versa the artmaking is the reset to new ideas that can come freely.
“The only way out is in.”- Junot Díaz
