Moddie and I watched the Diana Nyad documentary “The Other Shore” together last night. ARE YOU KIDDING ME – ?!?!?!?!?! WHAT a story! I knew about it “in 2 dimensions” – the aborted tries, the storm, the jellyfish, the training, but – Wow. I didn’t know that she hadn’t swum in 30 years (since her last try to swim Cuba to Florida); that she’d had abuse in her background; etc. I loved the fact that her trainer from 30 years ago was with her, her friend Bonnie, etc.
One thing she talks about is how she “hasn’t had a relationship” in 20 years – meaning a sexual relationship (one gathers). The thing is, when you look at the team of folks who are there for her, you gotta know that many folks who have “sexual relationships” with partners don’t have that sort of depth of caring and feeling. Methinks that the definition of “relationship” has to just stop including sexual relations – if you gots that, great (and we all wants that!) – but what you see in this movie is so, so much more.
Another thing Moddie and I talked a LOT about is how her BFF Bonnie The Bulldog (said lovingly!) tries and tries to have her give up on her Goal to do this swim. She tries it a number of times in a row (I’m not going to tell you how many if you don’t know already – go get the movie LOL) – and each time she gets out of the water saying “That’s it” and then a few days later she’s telling Bonnie “I had mire, I could have done it” and Bonnie is STRONGLY telling her that she’s stuck in a rut, she has to give this up, this is going to kill her.
The thing is, as you will see in the documentary, Nyad had abuse in her background. And she talks about that abuse – and how when she was molested (for a year, by the coach of her swim team, and it sounds like before that by her father) she basically never said anything about it. Looking back, she says she “can’t figure out why” she didn’t say something to her mother, to her teachers, to anyone.
I pointed out to Moddie that I think that actually standing up to Bonnie and standing up for her Goal – especially with this history of just “Oh, okay,” going along with something that isn’t what she wants was a BLAZING healing point (for me to see, on her behalf). The fact that she DID “speak up for what she wanted” was (to me) MONUMENTAL.
Moddie and I were texting each other a bit today – and I told her that WHEN we are on The Amazing Race and (you KNOW THIS WILL HAPPEN) we read the clue somehow “wrong” so that I volunteer to do the challenge and it turns out to be hugely physical – so I’m up there hanging off some rock wall a billion feet in the air, that we now have a deal. If I yell out “I NEED SOME BONNYING” she needs to start blowing horns, waving her arms, talking tough, she’s just gotta “get her Bonnie on.” Just typing this makes me smile, but it’s great code. (Besides, “Bonnie” and “Moddie” sound like one another, so they might not even edit it out ;-) )
Next subject: GiveIt100.com . Way way back at LEAST 100 days ago in this blog (I am SURE it was during my “count up”) I mentioned that I’d found a YouTube video of a gal who wanted to break dance (Japanese gal), and she did a YouTube video EVERY DAY for a year of her practicing. She had said she was going to start a website dedicated to the idea – and though I signed up to be notified, it took a friend of mine to send me the link yesterday to see that she has DONE it. The website is for anyone who wants to do anything – and you “pledge” you’ll upload a 10 second video EVERY DAY toward your goal. You can also “follow” other participants who are working on THEIR goals. I found some and followed them. I started out by putting my 100 day goal (you can do 100 or 365) as “The Amazing Race” but then deleted that one, because the deal is that you do a video that shows you working toward a certain goal where you can see progress, EVERY day. The second one I listed was double unders, pullups, rope climbs (all together), then I realized (again…) that was not going to work. Because you only get 10 seconds a day to post. So I deleted THAT one, and put up ONE for double unders, and ONE for rope climbs. I figure 2 is enough! Also, I can do those two at home, whereas I have to do pullups at the box. So it’s easier to do the videos. I do realize that we’re going to Hawaii for 10 days during this time span – the GOOD thing is that I can pack a jump rope. The BAD thing is I’m not quite sure how I’m going to work on the rope climbing. The closest Crossfit box to where we will be is a LONG way away. Who knows, maybe there will be some “rope-esque” thing at the gym at the Four Seasons (which is super nice and pretty “outfit” so it might really be possible). Either that, or I will go steal ninja some of the ropes strung between the big poles to keep people on the paths…they’re about the same diameter…(bad me)
Last – The Gabriel Code. I think I talked about this before, but I’m really liking the Morning/Evening inductions with The Gabriel Code. I’m also LOVING the induction that Sue from WayOfTheWhale.com did for us in re TAR. It’s masterful. I was super sad in cleaning out my bookshelves and closet (for the latest remodel) that I had to get rid of a LOT of inductions that Sue has done for me over the past 20+ years. They were on tape, and I don’t have a tape player. Then again, they were written for a different “me” working in a different reality . . . the last time that I had her do one was YEARS and YEARS ago. Moddie and I talked about the induction, too, and how PERFECT it was. I’m telling you – if you have to work on ANYTHING, you gotta get Sue to do an induction for you. I don’t care if you don’t think it works (smile). It’s like gravity – you don’t have to believe in it for it to work on ya!
That’s enough for now. Oh – on EveryMove.com (and for the GiveIt100 challenges), today and yesterday I did 5 x 100 single unders, and then yesterday I did 4 “up and down” climbs on the rope with my hands (in other words, going from standing holding the rope to lying down, then back up), and today I did 20 second jump/hang/foot locks. The hand thing is tough – not only is it hard for me to keep hold with my zaftig bodyweight, but my abs aren’t strong enough to keep me in a “straight” position, so I wind up sitting before I can lie down. So it goes. With the foot lock, for me, I realized last night just as I was drifting off to sleep how to use my pole dancing experience with the rope climb.
For ME, in pole dancing, I would lock the pole on the inside of my left knee and outside left of my left foot. In pole dancing, you always have a “climbing” leg and a “holding” leg for getting up the pole. My left was the leg I would “lock” with, then the top of my right foot would go basically behind my left knee (so the pole is between them), so that leg is bent, and I would push “up” off the top of my right foot until that leg was straight, then re-lock the left, etc.
With the rope climbing, I realized that if I put the rope going from the inside of my left knee out to the outside of my left foot, it was similar in “position” to how the left leg would be in pole dancing. Then, I “stood” my right foot up on my left foot. Mind you, I haven’t a CLUE how I would “climb” from here, but I did finally figure out the “foot lock” which I have NEVER really “gotten.” So that’s a start.
Taking videos of trying to do the double under and then trying to do the foot lock and also the “climb down and up” from standing to lying and back was pretty hilarious. I had to rubber band my phone to H’s tripod, tilting the top ALL the way back to sort of “lean” the phone against it. It was hilarious. Of course each video starts with the whole “press the button then run to do the exercise” thing – and as you only have 10 seconds (and if the video is longer than 10 seconds, they only take the FIRST 10 seconds), that was hilarious in its own way. Yes, yes, I am willing to be a total public doofus. Why not?
Tonight is Book Club – wanted to go to Crossfit but H is in the city and I’m still beholden to folks driving me during the evening. The class is at 6:30 which is dark.
And that’s all she wrote!