The last couple of times I went to Tai Chi class this week, my instructor - Ray Howard - mentioned the idea of working like a human. On thursday he explained the idea in depth:
The last couple of times I went to Tai Chi class this week, my instructor - Ray Howard - mentioned the idea of working like a human. On thursday he explained the idea in depth:
When humans are kids you can teach them to do something and they will automatically try new ways to do it everytime. Ray used the example of teaching his kids to feed the dog and a couple of days later they had managed to get thier skateboards involved in the chore. Other animals however, once taught to do something will do it the same way every time - like an Ox plowing a field. Somewhere along the lines as humans get older they tend to start working like animals - plodding along doing the same exact thing over and over an over again. We need to be reminded to work like humans.
In class this came in the form of doing repetative drills. Ok, I know that sounds like the opposite of what we were just told, but this is Taoist thinking so expect that. What Ray said was that as we do the same move over and over and over and over and over and over again (all the way across the studio in 2 inch increments), we should do the move differently each time. "Try balancing a little different, or placing your foot a little different - you'll learn a little more each time." he said.
So being the kind of student that I am, I tried it - even though it didn't make much sense to me right away. But you know what, he was right. Each time I did the cloud hands I tried to do one small piece just a little different. And each time I learned something. Sometimes I learned that doing it that way doesn't work. Sometime I learned that if I do this I have to do that or I'll fall over. Sometimes I felt my muscles learn something that my brain could never have told them (and don't ask - the lesson wasn't in English and I can't translate). The same was true with Repulse Monkey, and Seperate Foot Right/Left, and Retreat to Ride Tiger and all the other moves that we used to move back and forth across the studio with that day.
Then today I was in the Push Hands class (push hands are drills for learning the practical applications of all the moves in the solo form). We were doing a drill called Willow, where one person gently pushes the other and the pushee tries to move out of the way without moving their feet. I wasn't doing so well - I kept falling over. Ray noticed and came over and very quietly told me "work like a human." That was all I needed. I didn't stop falling over, I just stopped falling in the same direction every time. I also managed to stay on my feet longer between falls.
Clearly I have a lot to learn yet in this area, but I'm getting somewhere - in 2 inch increments.
It's just not fair I tell you. Yesterday, Sweetie ran up against a hard deadline that he thought would be soft and my car got towed so they could plow the lots at home. Normally this wouldn't annoy me - they gave notice and we knew that we were supposed to have the car out by 9am. So when it was gone by 9:10 it was only mildly annoying. Even the $185 that we had to spend to get it back didn't bug me.
That is until we got home and discovered 2 cars in just one of the 8 lots in my complex that had been plowed around. In another lot I saw 3 cars that hadn't been moved. That pissed me off. I didn't bother looking in the other lots - I'd seen enough (and it was too cold to be walking around getting angry).
Why did we have to pay $185 and spend an hour trying to find the darned tow lot when other people got to leave their cars undisturbed. I'm going to have words with the association about this.
Sweetie and I went to Chicago to visit his parents this weekend. Maybe not the best weekend to go, but the only one available until after school gets out in June. We almost didn't get to go this weekend.
Our reliable, always there Neighbor who takes care of Uno on weekends we are away, had to go out of town this weekend too. So we ended up taking Uno to visit his soon to be Step grandmother (also known as my mom). Mom was happy to doggy sit her newest granddogger, so that was solved - It would be up to Uno (a westi) to put Vanna (mom's english bulldog) in her place. Apparently he got his point accross - Vanna didn't pester him much over the weekend.
Then we were on our way. Too bad neither of us bothered to check the weather before we left. Around 9:00, just past Madison, we ran into freezing rain. It didn't take long for the road to be covered in a nice smooth icy surface with no traction whatsoever. We slowed down, but apparently not enough. I hit a particularily slick spot at the wrong angle and we spun out. We spun one way and headed for one ditch. Then we spun the other way and headed for the other ditch. The we turned and spun back the first way and stopped just inches from a 15' plunge into the ditch. We threw on the parking break and sat for about 10 minutes trying to catch our breath and thanking every god we could think of. We also heaped praise on Emmiline (my car) because she was working just as hard as we were to not go in the ditch. Sweetie took over driving at that point and got us going back in the right direction (straight to the nearest bathroom).
We arrived at Sweetie's parents house at about midnight. We quietly let ourselves in and went to bed. Hugs and greatings could wait until morning when we would be calm enough to tell them the story with enough emphasis on the "but everything turned out OK and no-one was hurt" part of the story.
I finally got to meet Sweetie's younger sister. She's a cool kid and it's going to be fun being her sister-in-law. She's just getting ready to head out off to college next year - If she goes at the pace she wants to, she'll graduate before me too. Otherwise we might be graduating in the same year, and that will be awkward to say the least.
Now, I just need to meet his brother. I've heard so much about him that I'm anxious to meet him and form my own opinions. I've heard so much in fact that I'm not entirely certain that he's just one person.
And then I got to actually see one of the places that Sweetie has been telling me about. He's always telling me about how Chicago is so much bigger/brighter/better than Minneapolis. We went to an adult arcade, Dave and Busters, to compare it to Jillian's. He was right about the bigger part, but better... we never did get to play skeeball (because there were only 4 lanes) and most of the VR machines that he'd talked up we gone. We did have fun at the horse race game and a tetris like game called chip away. Ooh, and they had Ms. Pac Man - I haven't played that in years. He also showed me the Chicago subburb that he thinks has a better skyline than Minneapolis - I didn't agree, but then Minneapolis has grown a lot in the last couple of years.
Overall though, the trip was pleasant, and short. And we're home now trying to get back into life.
Why do I live in Minnesota?
Days like these make me ask that of myself more and more often. It's been cold, bitterly cold for days now. On top of the cold, the wind is blowing making it feel even colder than it really is. The wind also makes the windows sing and trees sign in that mournful way. It's days like these that allow me to understand some of the Norse ledgends.
So it's cold, and I'm here wondering why I'm not living in Arizona, or New Mexico or someplace warm like that. There are, of course, the obvious answers: this is where my family lives, this is where my job is, this is where my school is. Somehow these answers don't seem like enough when I'm shivering in my heavy winter coat. And yet I still live here.
It's a new year (according to the calandar). 2003 is over and done and the books are closed. Over all I'd have to say that for me 2003 was a good year. I went back to school and survived (with good grades to boot). I got engaged. My fiance (Sweetie) is now living with me, and my cat and his dog (in a small one bedroom condo. It's cramped but we all get along (even the cat and dog get along - not so much as a single hiss or growl yet). There were some downsides too. My other cat died of cancer at the begining of the year, I hated one of my classes (but I got an A in it, so that helped a bit), I had some trouble in another, but we got that all sorted out (and I got an A in that one too). There have been arguements I don't remember any more, and some that I do. There have been hurt feelings and laughter to make up for them. Actually this year has been full of laughter. So over all, I'm calling it a good one.
Now onto 2004. I'm guessing there will be some more of the same. After all I'm still in school - I still need good grades, and I still have to figure out how to get to class on time and still make up all my hours at work. Sweetie is still in the process of getting all his stuff integrated into the house which is probably going to mean that some of my stuff has to move out. We have wedding plans to make, home improvements to plan, and families to negotiate with. Work is still work. Nothing much surprises me there any more, but that's just 'cuz I've gotten good at not being surprised by much. I still haven't managed to get a story published, so that's on the agenda too. When will I find time to get these stories out of my head and onto paper?
So here it is, my list of resolutions for the coming year:
1. write more
2. keep up with school
3. find time to have fun
4. help someone I don't know and will never see again.
Good luck in the new year to everyone.