I had a lovely, quiet weekend here. It was the perfect mix of rural but still with some comforts (like heating and hot water), and the meditation instruction was pretty straightforward and not too intimidating. I would definitely go back.I thought about this article on "Vipassana romance" while I was at my retreat - there is definitely the potential to form intense relationships with people you hardly know in situations like an isolated retreat, and a busy monkey mind will cling to any distraction.
Image: source.
I started and finished "The Wonder Spot" while there - it was sort of a pale imitation of the author's previous book, "The Girls Guide to Hunting and Fishing," but I thought it had much of the readability, wit, and heart that made me love the earlier book.
Running has been hard the last two weeks. My 9 mile race, and the 10 mile run two days before, felt great and I was reveling in the victory. Which should've signaled to me that it was short-lived. A change in routine (gone last weekend, out of town for the coming weekend as well), cold weather, and general stiffness and laziness have made for some rough runs....and for some lack of running. I'm trying to not get too upset about it - not every run can be great, and even pro athletes probably have some off weeks. But once Thanksgiving is past, I'm committing to really buckling down, getting back into my routine, and pushing through this blah phase in my relationship to running.
2 comments:
yes yes even pro runners have blah weeks. very serious runners have times when they feel like total poo, and lose heart. a running buddy helps! no matter how fast and strong you get, you can't get away from feeling like a slow-moving slug some days. it's one of the beautiful and humbling things about the sport. the road never ends. sending you courage to keep on keepin' on. xo
Thanks Nat! It's hard not to get attached to the feeling you get from a great run, especially after so many years of struggle - you want to think, "Oh, I've got it now, and it will never be hard again!"
I was actually thinking about that at my meditation retreat this weekend- a woman was rhapsodizing about a great sit that she had and the teacher literally said "That's nice, don't get too attached," and everyone laughed, but it was true - it's the other side of the "Don't get attached to the shitty run/sit" - neither one is more or less valuable than the other, and you will never not have either one....if that makes sense....
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