I have always loved theatre. Not really in the theatre geek way where I go to a show every week and read a bunch of plays and know all the lingo. In fact, I usually forget how much I love it until the end of a show, when I’m filled with… excitement, I guess you’d call it. I am just always so happy and in awe and inspired after I see a play or musical.
Me after I see a play.
In the form of a few great quotes I’ve collected over the years:
“People do not lack strength, they lack will.”
-Victor Hugo
“Most people want something different, but most people are not willing to change.”
-Bill Evans
“I’m not saying it’s going to be easy, I’m saying it’s going to be worth it.”
-Russel Wilson
“Mina said that you had a choice, when stuck in a pit, between pleasing the monster by looking down and screaming, or surprising him by looking up.”
-Fatima Mernessi in Dreams of Tresspass
“This is the first day of the rest of your life.”
-Unknown
Or maybe it’s not inspiration. Something to think about, then.
Nine days ago I made the tough decision to take on the 30 day abs challenge.
I say “tough” not because it was difficult for me to decide to do this (I joked– well, we’ll have to see how much of a joke it is at the end of the month– that I’d get a six pack), but because man, is this going to be tough! Every day you do a certain number of sit-ups, crunches, and leg raises, as well as a timed plank. And every day the number increases.
On the first day you have to do 15 sit-ups, 5 crunches, 5 leg raises and 10 seconds plank. Not too bad, right? Well I recommend you actually look at the chart before deciding to do this. Or don’t and, like me, delay the realization that you just signed yourself up for the longest month of your life a fabulously flat stomach!* And instead figure out on Day 2 that on Day 30 you will have to do 125 sit-ups, 200 crunches, 65 leg raises and 120 seconds of plank, if you can still move, that is.
No, I don’t want this six pack. This is actually pretty creepy.
I consider myself pretty fit. Playing football (soccer for all us Americans) five to six days a week will tend to do that to you. And I’ve always had pretty good abs, I think. But let me warn you, this isn’t called a challenge for no reason. It’s a whole different beast. I’ve just done Day 9, and as I joked with my mom earlier, I’m thinking that nine days is a great challenge. It should definitely just plateau after nine days. I was huffing and puffing and straining and sweating as I did my 45 sit-ups this morning. Did I mention that 45 is a really nice number? Especially when applied to sit-ups. I think 50 (Day ten. Tomorrow.) is a bit of a stretch. I mean, really, 45 is perfect! Haha. Except I can’t laugh because it makes my stomach muscles hurt too much.
Now you are probably wondering how on earth I was crazy enough to think of doing this. I wasn’t. My mom, who is a personal trainer, is having her clients do it, and she’s doing it with them. She kindly invited my sister and I to join her. I don’t know how my mom found this particular challenge, but there is a whole site of thirty day challenges! When you’re done with this one you can do the arms one! Hooray!
Oh! And I almost forgot, for any of you feeling up to the challenge, I recommend you watch the videos on the site before you start, just to make sure you do everything right. I know you wouldn’t want to cheat yourself. I would’ve been doing all my leg raises wrong, but my mom showed me the correct form, and now I hate them. See what you have to look forward to?
Here’s the chart, for any of you feeling inspired to join me on this…ahem… Adventure.
This is the torture sheet.
But seriously, I am going to finish this thing even if I’m crying and shaking as I do my last plank. And you should join me! Don’t be afraid! If you have already done this, or something similar, tell me about it and share any advice in the comments section!
*Some content in this post had to be edited for the benefit of the author’s mindset.
Here’s the website for other 30 day fitness challenges, and there’s even an app!
“Writing is a relationship between the writer and the reader.”
– Ms. Storey (I think)
I got some feedback on my last post that I should go “deeper” into what I think about the above quote. So here’s what I think…
If writing is a relationship, then we are all tied in so many ways to each other. Really we are just a giant knot of a web, building relationships with each other constantly. Sharing ideas, changing minds, making connections. Some bad. Some good.
If writing is a relationship between reader and writer, then the two ideally have equal power. The writer writes for itself and the reader reads for itself. Yet the writer can’t help but write for its dear readers and the reader, if the relationship is strong, often feels obliged to read for the writer.
To all of us writers out there, we need to remember we are only half, and never can be both alone and complete. Maybe that is why we write. We crave to create bonds with another person, strive to share our stories so that others can relate. We need the reader. Without the reader, our words are nothing, unseen and unheard. Pointless without the eyes and ears to receive them.
If writing is a relationship between writer and reader, then trust is all around us. As we write, we put a great amount of trust in our readers. We share a most personal gift: our thoughts. And the reader receives this gift, trusting that the words will be enjoyable.
Without a writer, a reader cannot exist, and without a reader, a writer is pointless. We need each other.
My Language Arts (which is reading and writing, for those of you who don’t know) teacher said this the other day, and I really liked it, and thought that, being bloggers, the rest of you might too.
“Writing is a relationship.”
– Ms. Storey (I think. She may have gotten it from someone else, for all I know)
First of all, isn’t it awesome that a writing teacher’s name is storey? And secondly, the whole quote was “Writing is a relationship between the readers and the writer”, but I like the way the part in bold sounds better when it’s alone.
Hopefully that gives you something to think about, as writers especially. It definately made me reasses how and why and what about I write.
Bells and Whistles 