Lydia Schoch

A while ago Abby at New Urban Habitat posted a link to this article about how children today are spending much less time outdoors than did their parents or grandparents. The average kid spends 7 hours and 38 minutes a day watching tv and playing on the computer.

I’ll Admit It

I spend a lot of time online these days, probably too much. Some of this is due to the unusually hot summer we had this year and the fact that it’s January now and rather chilly. When the weather is less extreme I do spend more time outdoors.

Of course, I’ve only been in our new home a few days. I don’t yet know the neighbourhood routines and while this seems like a great area to live in it does take a little while to find a new pattern of living. Drew has read about some animal attacks out here in B.C. due to the overlap in new suburban developments and the traditional territory of certain predators that are now beginning to run low on food.

I’m not worried about being attacked; I’m simply aware of my lack of local knowledge at the moment.

(Interestingly enough, I actually feel safer here in Canada than I did in the small Ohio town I lived in before moving north. Sidewalks and street lamps are maintained to a much higher standard, there are far more pedestrians and fewer people here believe that living in a good, Christian community means that one never has to think about these things or that bad things only happen to bad people.)

2011 Shift

At a certain point, though, all of these obstacles simply become excuses. When I am able to hike or walk at a park I come home invigorated body and soul. There’s something refreshing about being completely surrounded by trees for a few hours or even just taking a brisk walk or jog around the block. I know I should do these things more often. Rather than making it a New Year’s resolution that is quickly forgotten, though, I am committing myself to making small changes over time. I’m exercising indoors a few times a week for now in preparation for something I’m really looking forward to getting back into next year.

The photo on your right was taken somewhere in British Columbia. I want to find this place and even if I cannot find it if the trails we hike on are even half as rugged and beautiful as this one I’ll be thrilled!

My aunt and uncle are avid hikers and outdoors(wo)men. Listening to their stories about the various adventures they’ve had in the great outdoors is encouraging me to get back into at least the former activity. As a child my family spent a fair amount of time hiking on family-friendly trails and for several years we also spent most of our vacations going camping.

Over the next few months I’ll be doing research, slowly getting into better shape and spending less time staring at screens and figuring out where I want to hike first in the spring. At this point I’m uninterested in rock climbing…although a year ago I didn’t spend much time  thinking about hiking!

The First Adventure

Mumble, mumble years ago my grandfather’s younger sister made an uncommon decision. Her five siblings were  content to remain in the midwest, raise thriving, big families and then watch their grandchildren grow up.

My conjecture of this time in her life is that Aunt Jan wanted to do something else. After college graduation she moved to Arizona. For two years she and Aunt Fay were employed by the federal government teaching at a reservation school for a few years. Both aunts learned quickly not to hug their students or praise their hard work in public because these things weren’t culturally appropriate in that setting.

When I was growing up the aunts would fly back to visit the extended family in Ohio every year or so. They brought us oranges and grapefruit that tasted like warm, spring sunshine. It always ruined me for store-bought citrus for weeks after they returned home.

Slowly I hear just a little more about their adventures every year, the most interesting stories dribbling out when I least expect them. I savour each one like the fruit they used to bring and wonder what else I will learn the next time we meet. It isn’t easy to ask for stories about adventures that I haven’t heard yet, though. How do you request something when you don’t know its name?

It seems to me that as many stories as I’ve heard from Aunt Jan there are far more that have yet to be shared. I think of the rest as the other half of her adventures! 🙂

The Second Adventure

Just before my 22nd birthday I moved to Toronto to begin a life together with the man I loved. It was difficult to move so far away from my nuclear and extended family but I knew that remaining in the midwest and raising a houseful of children wasn’t the right path for me. I wasn’t suited for that life and really wanted to know some other options.

Today Drew and I are moving to British Columbia. We were more than ready for a change:  temperate weather, a more casual culture, and a brand new neighborhood and city to explore.

We have some savings and a goal: to make a living from writing. This is our adventure. I will share our triumphs and failures (but hopefully mostly the former!) with you in the coming months.

What has been or will be your adventure? What paths have you deliberately followed? From which ones have you purposefully wandered?

A few times each year on Suggestion Saturday I will talk about blogs not listed in my links (with one exception in this post) that I highly recommend checking out. They’re arranged loosely by topic. Share your favourite sites in the comment section!

Love, Sexuality & Relationships

Effing Dykes. This is the funniest blog I’ve ever read. One day I’d love to sit down for a cup of coffee with the author and laugh about the weirdnesses of our society.

The Polyamory Paradigm. Discussions on a wide variety of topics related to polyamory.

The American Virgin. The social constructs of that thing we call virginity. The best posts here are the interviews with adult virgins of various ages and from a wide array of backgrounds.

Religion & Spirituality

Hell? No! Why there is no such thing as hell. It is blogs like this one that keep my flicker of religious belief smouldering.

Catching Courage. This isn’t a typical blog about religion or spirituality. In the short time I’ve been following it I remember few if any references to God yet it nurtures my soul all the same.

Justice & Social Acceptance

Accepting Dad. A blog written by a father whose son is gender-nonconforming.

Feministing. Religion, politics, and pop culture from a feminist perspective.

Mona Eltahawy. Thoughts from a Muslim, Egyptian Feminist.

Green Living & Simplicity

The Frugal Vegan. Frugality and vegan food. I’ve found so many good recipes here!

New Urban Habitat. Sustainable city living.

Stone Soup. Simple, delicious meal preparation.

Other

Paleo-Future Blog. Images, articles and videos from what people thought the future would be like 20, 50, 100 years ago.

Tetrapod Zoology. Articles on unusual animals. Occasionally there are posts challenging readers to identify a particular species. I’ve never guessed it correctly but I will keep trying!

Heretic Underground. An obligatory link to my husband’s new site about unorthodox living. It launches today and I’m really looking forward to seeing what he has to say.

Commander Locke: Damnit, Morpheus, not everyone believes what you believe.

Morpheus: My beliefs don’t require them to.

– The Matrix Reloaded

Here’s something to consider as we slip through last few days of 2010:

What if you are wrong?

What if your most strongly held beliefs or codes – religious, political, philosophical, ethical, moral – are false?

This is a question to which I return from time to time not because I seriously doubt my own beliefs but because there is always the possibility that I could be mistaken. In the past I have been known to switch opinions on a variety of topics after thoughtfully considering new ideas. It isn’t something I expect to happen again but I also never thought it would occur in the first place.

Everything that I’ve experienced so far has led to my current beliefs but I’m not omniscient. Religiously speaking, for example, there could be something that I’ve missed that obviously points to the:

• Muslims
• Christians
• Neopagans
• Atheists
• Buddhists
• Hindus
• Jews
• Taoists
• Sikhs

having the corner on the truth.

Ultimately it is as important to know what one believes and why we believe it as it is to hold those convictions with a gentle reminder that I, you, we could be wrong.

My Rule of Thumb:

If someone cannot admit that there’s a possibility, as slim as it may be, that they don’t have the unadulterated truth I will take everything they say from that moment on with a few teaspoons of salt. One blind spot has already been uncovered. Of how many others are they also unaware?

There is a deep, quiet strength in ambiguity-flecked beliefs, in following hunches, assumptions or even convictions without the zeal of absolutism. Grey is not always a cobbled road between the black and white villages of truth and fairy stories; sometimes it is its own destination.

Growing up I dreaded gym class. I disliked being told how to exercise or feeling sweaty when I walked to my next class and I really disliked how competitive and repetitive the sports were that we played.

In the sixth grade I had a particularly troubling series of physical education experiences. Between Christmas and the end of the school year I sprained a finger at gym class once or twice each month. No sooner had one finger more or less healed than another would be sprained which meant that I spent four or five months living with at least one swollen, bruised, and resistant-to-being-bent finger almost all of the time. The memories of those months made me less interested in organized athletics than ever before. As an adult, though, I realize that exercising is part of staying healthy.

Some people genuinely enjoy the camaraderie of team sports and  the thrill of competition. Unfortunately I’m not one of them. If I try to keep up with activities that I dread doing I’m not going to have the motivation to continue with them. One of my challenges in 2010 and looking forward to 2011, then, is to find a variety of activities that I enjoy enough to come back to tomorrow, next month, and next year.

Here is my brainstormed list of activities so far. I’ve divided them into two categories: indoor and outdoor.

Indoor

• Take the stairs instead of waiting for the elevator
• Walk up or down the escalator
• Heavy duty cleaning around the house
• Knead bread, mash potatoes, mix dough, etc. by hand
• Assist neighbours with heavy lifting or awkward household chores
• Swim (can be an outdoor activity in the summer)
• Borrow fitness books from the library
• Search internet for free workout video clips
• Free activities: pushups, sit-ups, jumping rope, jumping jacks and squats
• Cheap(ish) activities: bowling, roller skating

Outdoor

• Gardening (I hope to have the space for this soon!)
  
• Jogging
• Brisk walks
• Snow creativity – building snowmen, snow forts, snow monsters.
• Going on a hike or camping trip (although not during the winter)
• Bicycling, canoeing, ice skating

Respond

How do you stay active? What non-traditional forms of exercise do you participate in? Can you recommend any other inexpensive, indoor forms of exercise for the winter months? (It’s so much easier to stay active when it’s nice outside!)