Author: Sloan

Rat Race

/ Sloan / 1 Comment

I don’t have any recent adventures to speak of. To be totally honest I’ve been a total gym rat lately. I have been trying to get in one long trail run a week, that didn’t happen last week, and maybe a run or two mid week, those didn’t really happen last week either. I’ve failed on the runner part of my self-description. Oh well, I’m okay with that right now.

I did, however, go for a run with the girls trail running group that leaves from the store I work at—I’m slow, really slow, so I got left behind…in the dark…wearing shoes that were too big, kinda weird and brand new, (review on this shoe to come, I have to give them another chance before I have a real opinion of them.)

You know the movie Now and Thenwith the four girls that are best friends? They do everything together! They contact the dead, tackle big issues like divorce, boys, boobs and kissing. These girls love and hate each other, the chubby one gets her pig tail pooped on, yeah, that that one is me, shit like that happens to me.

There’s a scene in the movie where all the girls are biking and the chubby one is left behind on an unfamiliar road far behind her best friends. Well, that happened to me last week. Only we were running, on trails, IN THE DARK. Not cool people, not cool at all.

Lesson learned: run faster. Or, go to the gym where the weights weigh the same, the elliptical still goes no where, and there’s a sauna to sweat out all toxins and memories of being left behind. Sometimes a girl just needs to get her gym on, ya know?

 

Which Are You??

/ Sloan / 4 Comments

“This is why I moved here,” as my fellow east coaster friend and I rounded a bend and saw the view of Mount Shasta I know we were both thinking it, I said it out loud. The trails here in Southern Oregon are incredible. In-cred-ible! We both moved here from the mid-Atlantic to be happier and then we figured we figure it out as we go.

As our conversation progressed on our 3 hour trail run topics progressed from all over the board: men, work, running, roommates, religion, moving…etc. My friend started talking about a woman she works with and couldn’t help but notice that this woman seems to be young, beautiful, married but works a whole lot! Like, a lot a lot. So much that I think the only time she’s outside is when she’s between her house and her car and her car and work…unless she has a garage, and then maybe parks in an underground parking structure…anyway, this woman seems to do nothing but work and then grocery shop on her days off. BORING.

 

Why am I talking about some woman I don’t even know? I’ve never met her, why do I care what she does? I don’t, really. But I know lots of people like her and it makes me kind of sad and curious. Did she never have the chance to figure out what she loves? Is she happy?  Makes me think about something I’ve heard people say as a concept of life: I live to work. OR I work to live. Which one are you?

Do you spend your days at work dreaming to get out, planning your next trip, gearing up to experience something alone or with a friend in a new place? Or do you get up in the morning and go to bed each night with work on your mind, making money your first thought, paying off those bills so you can enjoy the good life LATER?

My friend and I ran and ran and ran for three hours yesterday. Winding through the trail systems that put my old ‘trails’ to shame. Talking, laughing, detoxing from our week of working—this is one of my favorite ways to feel good about life. Knowing that I have the opportunity and love of the outdoors to detach myself from the everyday struggles and stresses of life. My jobs are to allow me to do what I want know, they let me live where I want and let me do what I want right now.

 

I chose to work so I can live. Don’t get me wrong, I want to enjoy my job and be full filled, but I’m also beginning to understand that there is so much more than work. I want to work, I want to learn, I want to play, I want to figure out the best balance of being able to do it all and be full filled and enriched!

 

Now how do I do that? Quarter life crisis countdown is on… T-minus 6 days! Eeeeeeek!!

I’m a Quitter For sure

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SourceURL:file:///Users/sloandorr/Desktop/TheSoleSeach/Now.doc

Now, back to the topic of my birthday. The day, January 18th, is quickly approaching and with each passing day I’m feeling the pressure of What The Fuck Am I Doing With My Life??? looming over my head like a (insert cheesy metaphor here, one like: black stormy rain cloud.

Annnnnnnnd cue quarter life crisis music: brain spinning, grad school thoughts, cheap tickets to Mexico and a bungalow with a beautiful lover, thoughts of living in my mother’s basement, being single for the rest of my life, working retail into my 30s or 40s, wasted youth…etc etc…

 

All through life I’ve witnessed people living to work; being unhappy in their career, their relationships, their bodies, their emotional state, their living situation, etc… I’ve never been one to do that, I generally quit if I’m really that unhappy. (this is where we show a montage of my life: losing 80 pounds, dropping out of college, quitting a stupid job, going back and finishing college, quitting a great ‘career’ job to move to the mountains…)

 

I’m a quitter. And I’m  happy about it.

 

Now I’m approaching a quarter of a century and am not sure where or why this path has taken me this direction. Sure I have two fun jobs, I get to talk about fitness and running all day, meet cool people, play in the woods and stare at the mountains—but really, lets be honest here, I can only mooch off my mother’s insurance for another year, after that I’m on my own and I don’t think two part time jobs will do it for me forever. Neither financially or be as full filling as I want them to be.

 

An old co-worker of mine posted a scene called Ten Things from an award winning video from the 5 Point Film Festival, I just watched it and am literally wiping the tears away. It’s amazing what speaks to you at certain times in your life, this video is speaking directly to me, in my face, at my feelings and forcing me to evaluate and reflect. Please do the same as you watch this amazing piece.

The Ten Things from Jeremy Collins on Vimeo.