Choose your own adventure
tickets are non-refundable
What a year. Today I join you in reflecting on what went right and what went down like a dirigible in flames. But first, I registered for a repeat January tradition. Running 267 miles in the month of January. It is the combined virtual distance of 3 live events from Badwater/AdventureCORPS — noted as 3 of the toughest races in ultra-running. I ran the Badwater CapeFear 50k a few years ago. It was windy, long, and impossible but I got it done.
My mantra for that day continues through — “there will come a day when you can no longer do this, today is not that day.”
There is something that happens beyond the physical that is hard to explain. A tiny groove in your DNA that wakes up every morning and renews a commitment. There isn’t negotiation of whether you “feel like running” or “it can wait until tomorrow”. You drink your coffee, pack your hydro pack, and head out the door.
I think it was Scott Jurek who simply said, this is who we are, this is what we do.
Returning to the year that was 2022…
The most read post here was Normal led to this back in July. As I reread the article, this is the truest thing I wrote:
For example, if free markets were indeed free how does one voluntarily join healthcare as a free market? Did you secretly desire that gallstone in the same way you covet your new toaster oven or sneakers? Does the asymmetric knowledge of cardiology between you and your physician really mean you are making decisions freely toward your care?
I guess as we mature and learn, the seams begin to show. We see the sausage being made in front of our eyes and with each turn of the extruder we notice something we wish had gone unseen.
This is often referred to as rivalrous dynamics. We incentivize a behavior we are trying to regulate or terminate. The easiest example is poaching. If we stop elephant poaching without addressing the underlying drivers such as poverty and blight—another animal like the rhinoceros will be targeted. If we encourage commercial fishing according to our mantra—if you teach a man to fish he will eat for a lifetime—then what happens to the nitrogenous waste and other long-term deleterious effects on small developing communities?
Two of my books were published—well the second one is going through final proof before publication in January. Python for Geospatial Data Analysis and Geospatial Analysis with SQL.
My next book is shifting the spotlight from the technology side of geospatial to the humanistic side. Here is a brief highlight from the requested proposal:
Geospatial analysis not only provides insights about land-use (commercial, residential, or industrial for example), vegetation, and hydrology (the distribution and flow of water ) but how they are impacted by human activity. Geographic properties capture complex interactions, dynamic shifts in ecosystem balance and how activities influence eco-geomorphic conceptual frameworks across a wide variety of environments.
Look no further than climate change to see where these linked activities are critical. Anthropogenic effects such as population growth, climate change, and other measures studying how humans impact the natural environment can be observed if we take the time to look at complex problems in a deliberate and reproducible manner.
When we tell stories, at least stories that bring us a fresh understanding of what may seem familiar, we enlarge our consciousness and refine our sensibility.
Not being the type to dwell on negativity I reframed the fiery parts of 2022 as learning experiences:
You can’t please everyone, you aren’t a pizza.
Adult friendships are hard. People come into your lives, and they exit. You can outgrow people and still honor their time in your world.
Nobody likes criticism. It is hard. Writing is constant critique. Reframing makes you better. Better at writing, better at communicating, better at being okay under the microscope.
Dialectical reframing can be a powerful way forward but when applied to your children and their challenges, often feels dismissive. Sometimes they just want to be acknowledged in their disappointment or despair.