WolfDreamer

I haven't listened to much of it, but I can definitely see (hear?) the appeal. “Everyone carries a shadow, and the less it is embodied in the individual’s conscious life, the blacker and denser it is. At all counts, it forms an unconscious snag, thwarting our most well-meant intentions.” Good ol' Carl Jung. That's fair. What I love about both the book and the series is that it embraces the creative genius of Lovecraft and yet slays his rampant and blatant racism by having very formidable and likable protagonists of color. One of the main protagonists, Atticus, even enjoys reading Lovecraft in spite of his awareness of the man's influence in the white supremacy movement of his time. In the series he speaks a version of a line that is actually spoken by his uncle in the book: "But stories are like people, Atticus. Loving them doesn’t make them perfect. You try to cherish their virtues and overlook their flaws. The flaws are still there, though."

This thread is lookin' a little dead. Let's liven it up a little, shall we?

I'm so proud of you for working through this. Let me know if I can help in any way.

Great challenge, Tarly! I sometimes end my strength workouts with some "qigong-ish" or "tai chi-ish" type movements as a cool down. I admire your dedication, and I'm glad to see you writing again. Let me know if I can help in any way.

Hoookaaay, I'm gonna need a recipe for that like right now! Oh, there's no doubt about that! I can honestly say just from looking at your description that I have never had anything like it, so it's already a treat!

Y'all... I'm feeling pretty good. Just a few things to share, and then I'll post my update for week one. Officially, I failed the 75 Hard Challenge. Friday, I forgot to take a progress pic, and I was so busy that I did not get the full gallon of water. Unofficially, I am going to stick with it because I am doing well with the diet (still no fast food, no sodas, and no alcohol), the two 45 minute workouts, and the 10 pages of reading every day. I'm just not going to stress myself out if I forget to take a pic or if I do not drink a full gallon of water. I may recalibrate some habits and routines and try again later. Since I mentioned books, I won a giveaway from Inspired Legacy, which is a men's ministry and podcast, specifically for fathers. The book was Stephen Mansfield's newest one, Men on Fire. The book is a really powerful call to action for those of us who identify as men to step into our value and purpose as men. Mansfield feels that men who do not know who they are are the most dangerous kinds of men. "Men who do not know who they are and who do not understand the power of noble manhood and the duties of a righteous man are terrorizing our age and destroying themselves." He makes the very valid point that most of the atrocities in our nation today (violence, sexual assault, etc.) have been committed by white, middle-class, and often "Christian" young men. I like the direct writing style of the book, but as I read it I recognize that I know some men who would be put off by this. However, Mansfield makes a good point that men need to stop placing blame, take ownership of their mistakes, and band together to fix them. I'm still running trails three days a week: Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. My buddy Rick is running a 100 mile race in November, and I am going to pace him for the last 18 miles. It will be the longest trail run for me ever, even though my measly 18 will be nothing compared to his awesome 100. But it is located in the New River Gorge, one of my favorite regions of the state. The last 18 miles is mostly uphill with a climb of 2,890 ft. So I'm doing okay. I also started watching Lovecraft Country because it seemed appropriate with Halloween coming soon, and I really enjoyed the book and have been looking forward to the show. If you've seen it, comment with what you think of it so far. I just started the second episode. Week 1 Update: woke up before sunrise every day except Sunday said the Lord's Prayer every morning, as well as a prayer of gratitude took the dogs outside while barefoot and shirtless; most mornings it has been about 45-50 degrees F, which is just cool enough to prepare me for much colder exposure to come later in the season. took cold showers, which are getting even cooler as the nights and mornings get colder trail runs are going great; my gps isn't accurate, but I am relying mostly on how my body feels during and after the run eating a lot of almond butter lately; I also had a pumpkin strudel muffin for breakfast, and I have been drinking cocoa made from cacao powder and sweetened with honey my wife made chili this weekend, which I consider to be an excellent fall meal, perfect for cool evenings; in the winter she makes vegetable soup virtual conferences with students are becoming more frequent and more productive still taking daily walks around campus, trying to get creative each time and mix it up a bit; some days I listen to podcast, some days music, and some days just the sounds of my environment still trying to drink a lot of water but not stressing about if it is a gallon or not reading Men on Fire been getting to bed by 10:30 I leave you with this:

Well, I'm drinking a gallon a day for the 75 Hard Challenge, so I'm good. 😆

Thank you. I appreciate it. I think it is 3,404 miles (5,478 km) from Hobbiton to Mordor and back again.

Greetings, fellow Adventurers. Apologies for the delay in posting my challenge, but ugh... it has been a rough few weeks. I bounced between feeling guilty for not being more active here on the forums and trying to extend grace to myself because I honestly am overwhelmed right now. And then I agonized over what to theme my challenge this time, and yesterday I was overcome with something, and now I know... It's fall. I know it isn't *officially* fall, but hear me out. Yesterday, I woke up early, stepped outside, and it was 55 degrees, foggy, and I could just barely smell damp leaves. It felt like an autumn morning. I was reminded that autumn is one of the more powerful seasons and brings with it transformational change. This includes death, or at least the perception of death, the shedding of things no longer needed but whose sacrifice is necessary in order to bring new and better life. But before this, the vibrancy and electricity of early autumn: colors, sounds, smells, sensations, crisp cool mornings giving way to warm afternoons and back again to cool nights, wisps of fog hugging the mountaintops and river valleys and fading with the glowing sunrise. That's the theme for this challenge: Autumn. It will bring with it some little deaths, necessary losses that allow growth to happen. Change is inevitable and good. It is transformative. So my goal may sound vague to you, but I know what I mean by it and how I am going to go about achieving it. GOAL: To embrace and embody the transformative energies of autumn.