That is beautiful—the writing and the message. Which race was it, Woodside/Crystal Springs?
I sense a generational difference. When I went to high school (graduated 1986) and college (graduated 1990), we were tortoise-like (my high school mascot was the Toad, and I went to UCSC where we were Slugs, both mascots reflecting my athletic state as a teen and young adult). We really did hang out with friends and do nothing. We'd sit on the beach to watch waves or sit on a hill to watch sunsets. We went to class, did homework, and held part-time jobs, but the pace was totally different. It wasn't until I went to grad school in the mid-1990s, not coincidentally the dawn of email and the "world wide web," that the pace changed, I felt stress, and I put my head down and hurried. I also became a runner then to cope with stress.
Yeah! Woodside and Purisma. It might be somewhat of a generational trend. I mean, Anne Helen Petersen made her whole career out of the idea that Millennials were the burnout generation. And Jenny Odell has also written eloquently about this trend toward seeing time as productive resource. It’s certainly a theme of Millennial writing.
I think that for folks of a certain class born after 1980, there was a significant amount of investment of time and curated development activities during childhood into sports and music lessons, and other pre-professional development educational stuff (AP classes, standardized tests, the internationalization of college admissions) that led a lot of folks to be pretty goal-oriented, driven, and anxious. We were also undersexed and under drugged relative to previous generations. And the recession was also a big influence since getting the “real job” has always been so very difficult.
Great stuff Sam! Reading this made me think of a shirt I saw in Boston last week that wonderfully encapsulates this tension (and a shirt I need to get/make for myself): Run fast. Pet dogs.
My German Shorthair wakes up each morning as I get out of bed. With doleful eyes, he sits in front of me, not allowing me to stand up. I massage his ears and neck until he tells me enough of this, let's go to the dog park. So we do.
That is beautiful—the writing and the message. Which race was it, Woodside/Crystal Springs?
I sense a generational difference. When I went to high school (graduated 1986) and college (graduated 1990), we were tortoise-like (my high school mascot was the Toad, and I went to UCSC where we were Slugs, both mascots reflecting my athletic state as a teen and young adult). We really did hang out with friends and do nothing. We'd sit on the beach to watch waves or sit on a hill to watch sunsets. We went to class, did homework, and held part-time jobs, but the pace was totally different. It wasn't until I went to grad school in the mid-1990s, not coincidentally the dawn of email and the "world wide web," that the pace changed, I felt stress, and I put my head down and hurried. I also became a runner then to cope with stress.
Yeah! Woodside and Purisma. It might be somewhat of a generational trend. I mean, Anne Helen Petersen made her whole career out of the idea that Millennials were the burnout generation. And Jenny Odell has also written eloquently about this trend toward seeing time as productive resource. It’s certainly a theme of Millennial writing.
I think that for folks of a certain class born after 1980, there was a significant amount of investment of time and curated development activities during childhood into sports and music lessons, and other pre-professional development educational stuff (AP classes, standardized tests, the internationalization of college admissions) that led a lot of folks to be pretty goal-oriented, driven, and anxious. We were also undersexed and under drugged relative to previous generations. And the recession was also a big influence since getting the “real job” has always been so very difficult.
Some off-the-cuff thoughts!
@Sarah, Woodside Crossover 2015, we blew by the first turn, ha.
It was a painful finish to the race
I always imagine you were so salty about that wrong turn, Craig, that this was the moment you decided to take over Inside Trail. 😜
I can only blame myself! The course was marked perfectly, I just ran head down not paying attention. 🤦🏼♂️
Great stuff Sam! Reading this made me think of a shirt I saw in Boston last week that wonderfully encapsulates this tension (and a shirt I need to get/make for myself): Run fast. Pet dogs.
Always stop to pet the dog!
Thanks, Mario!
Good one.
Hey thanks, Mike.
As I read the first paragraph I was thinking...
Woodside Crossover 2015 🤣
Where's the wrong turn statement, oh there it is, yep
My German Shorthair wakes up each morning as I get out of bed. With doleful eyes, he sits in front of me, not allowing me to stand up. I massage his ears and neck until he tells me enough of this, let's go to the dog park. So we do.
Always inspiring Sam