july 2024 // type two uselessness
the heat is on with this sweaty scorpio-infused class!
monthly playlist // natural satellite yoga july 2024
happy summer! this month i started an exciting new job (yay) and moved my body less than ever (boo) so it felt especially good to lean into the heat and work up a sweat preparing this class. i hope you enjoy and stay hydrated!
This post is thematically inspired by a parable shared in a Hidden Brain post from May 26, 2021. I encourage you to read the story at the original source:
I am drawn to the joy of being useless. It probably stems from spending most of my early working years neck deep in the Patagonia kool-aid, steeping in the whimsical yet powerful concepts of “fun-hogging” and conquering the useless. Formative stories for the brand, these ideas worked their way into my own hobbies and habits, creating a healthy tension within my highly-disciplined (read: ballet-addled) mind. Sure, maybe I personally never really became a “fun hog” as described, but my time surrounded by storytellers certainly imbued me with the lesson that not everything has to be optimized for maximum success. Sometimes type two fun is enough.
These days I am diving deeper into my favorite useless activity - bikepacking. In recent years, Joe and I have been gearing up for longer and more committing rides. A night here and there, sometimes a few days, hopefully someday for weeks on the way around Lake Michigan and beyond. Herein lies the uselessness, bikepacking means countless hours of effort to arrive somewhere you can easily drive in a fraction of the time. Add in the bonus of the physical exertion of carrying all your shit, getting sweaty (or deeply cold) and eating the same food for days on end. What’s the freakin’ point?
Well… the process, of course. The point is in the boredom and the repetition day after day after day. It’s the mundane task that allows for some healthy disassociation. Maybe in the moment things are a slog but eventually you might experience a pure sense of flow, where everything clicks into place. Then again, maybe not. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
To me biking fits this role perfectly, offering enough engagement to bring the brain and body online, but with plenty of space (physically and mentally) to unhook from daily routine. I’ve had some of my most peaceful days and profound insights on the bike while simply pedaling away the miles. On the other hand, I’ve also had some of my hardest moments, where I’ve temporarily lost faith in my abilities or willingness to push on. But in retrospect, I generally find that the work tends to be worth the experience, no matter if the ultimate goal is reached or not (and sometimes a good story is fair trade enough).
I’m reminded of a favorite quote I’ve carried with me for years from Robert Pirsig’s philosophical cult classic, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance,
"Mountains should be climbed with as little effort as possible and without desire. The reality of your own nature should determine the speed. If you become restless, speed up. If you become winded, slow down. You climb the mountain in an equilibrium between restlessness and exhaustion. Then, when you’re no longer thinking ahead, each footstep isn’t just a means to an end but a unique event in itself. This leaf has jagged edges. This rock looks loose. From this place the snow is less visible, even though closer. These are things you should notice anyway. To live only for some future goal is shallow. It’s the sides of the mountain which sustain life, not the top. Here’s where things grow."
Allowing ourselves those boring or durational experiences also offers us a chance to gain awareness of ourselves and our surroundings. Biking is not the only way to do this - yoga, sewing, running, writing, cooking and really most analog hobbies fit this bill. Not everything we do has to be important or interesting or um, monetized. Sometimes the practice is the full experience. It’s knitting that shirt that ultimately doesn’t fit over restful hours curled up in a chair. It’s sweaty miles on a bike just to sip a silly little espresso. It’s unrolling your mat to do the same old yoga sequence that brings you joy. It’s allowing your pursuits to fall outside of the optimization culture and just be pursuits in themselves. That’s the usefulness of the uselessness of it all.
with love,
juli
P.S. Tour de France is happening right now and if you know me, you know I’m watching every second I can and wondering how these people contain such multitudes of power to rocket themselves over literal mountains day after day. But I rarely wonder why they do it - I think that part is relatable enough!
july 2024 moodboard // small space for recent loves
socialist reconstruction - party for socialism and liberation
i still really miss gino - by pello bilbao (related: interview with matej mohoric)
city night - georgia o’keefe (1926) + the entire “my new yorks” exhibit at AIC
probably riding - chill, cruisey bike content filmed in korea
beatenberg - the hanging gardens of beatenberg (a fave summer vibe, on repeat)
a haiku 4 u: planters on cinder blocks the pleasure to explain in the lap of gods