I love what you said about deadlifting. It seems as though different exercises model different psychological states because, well, they change your physical state — your power to meaningfully interact with your environment.
I notice a similar change with improving my running speeds. I feel more confident in expansive physical spaces. Looking around at an open space, or a long trail, seems less unfathomably vast and remote, since I know I could physically pass through that space with increasing swiftness. Looking across a river to the other side of a city looks less distant, less like a separate city, because I could easily envision how I could traverse it in a few hours if I needed to.
It's so strange to be pulled up short by the realization that one's preferences have changed. This is an evocative list and made me want to write my own.
1. Sound effects
I'm feeling an identity shift lately because I'm a mom now. Our son is six months old and he's flatteringly entertained by silly sounds, so I've been getting to dust off my elephant trumpeting and pig grunting and raspberry blowing. It's also fun to watch him bring out this behavior in everyone else, like his grandparents.
2. Singing
I've dabbled in folk music circles before, but having a kid has made singing more practically relevant to my life. It feels quite solemn and meaningful to be part of a tradition passing old songs down to another generation, and I hadn't experienced that feeling before. I've been learning songs and picking up a few ukulele chords to go with them.
3. Communal bathing
We went to a family-friendly Korean spa on a trip to New York and got naked in front of strangers and lounged in pools of various temperatures and it was joyous. It made me feel that my own culture is fallen and impoverished for not having any kind of communal bathing tradition.
4. Car Talk
I've been listening to back episodes of Car Talk while driving, and I can't really explain this one. I don't care very much about cars and the car advice is largely out of date anyway—I don't have a carburetor. I like their rapport and the windows into the lives of the callers through their car problems and the pervasive 90s feeling of a simpler time.
5. Lois McMaster Bujold
I've never been an author completionist until now. I intended to just reread The Vorkosigan Saga but I went from there to her fantasy series and now there are only some odds and ends I haven't read. It's been a nice companion in the early months of parenthood: she's pretty optimistic about humanity and her characters' ability to grow into the fullest versions of themselves.
I love what you said about deadlifting. It seems as though different exercises model different psychological states because, well, they change your physical state — your power to meaningfully interact with your environment.
I notice a similar change with improving my running speeds. I feel more confident in expansive physical spaces. Looking around at an open space, or a long trail, seems less unfathomably vast and remote, since I know I could physically pass through that space with increasing swiftness. Looking across a river to the other side of a city looks less distant, less like a separate city, because I could easily envision how I could traverse it in a few hours if I needed to.
It's so strange to be pulled up short by the realization that one's preferences have changed. This is an evocative list and made me want to write my own.
1. Sound effects
I'm feeling an identity shift lately because I'm a mom now. Our son is six months old and he's flatteringly entertained by silly sounds, so I've been getting to dust off my elephant trumpeting and pig grunting and raspberry blowing. It's also fun to watch him bring out this behavior in everyone else, like his grandparents.
2. Singing
I've dabbled in folk music circles before, but having a kid has made singing more practically relevant to my life. It feels quite solemn and meaningful to be part of a tradition passing old songs down to another generation, and I hadn't experienced that feeling before. I've been learning songs and picking up a few ukulele chords to go with them.
3. Communal bathing
We went to a family-friendly Korean spa on a trip to New York and got naked in front of strangers and lounged in pools of various temperatures and it was joyous. It made me feel that my own culture is fallen and impoverished for not having any kind of communal bathing tradition.
4. Car Talk
I've been listening to back episodes of Car Talk while driving, and I can't really explain this one. I don't care very much about cars and the car advice is largely out of date anyway—I don't have a carburetor. I like their rapport and the windows into the lives of the callers through their car problems and the pervasive 90s feeling of a simpler time.
5. Lois McMaster Bujold
I've never been an author completionist until now. I intended to just reread The Vorkosigan Saga but I went from there to her fantasy series and now there are only some odds and ends I haven't read. It's been a nice companion in the early months of parenthood: she's pretty optimistic about humanity and her characters' ability to grow into the fullest versions of themselves.
What do you recommend for Napoleon reading?