Who Knew

When I mention a beet, it brings a very distinct color to mind, doesn't it? That bright reddy purple kind of color that convinces you its going to make your mouth that same color if you eat it. Well I've never had my mouth turn the color of a beet... but I'm pretty sure my face was that color today after my first day of half marathon training. Oh, and I was delightful pouring sweat too.  Folks, it was a struggle.  The whole time I'm negotiating with myself... here are a couple of samples of those conversations I had with me, myself and I. Oh sweet lord, this guy next to me smells like BO and cigarettes. Why did he pick the treadmill next to me? ( 5 minutes later when he's gone ) Wait, I still smell that smell... shit does that mean I'm the one who smells like that! I put on deodorant today and have been no where near a cigarette! What the hell! Okay, just stare at the TV and read about this guy who's being suspended for 2 games for physically assaultin...

Another orientation season has come and gone , and just as it is with every year, I don't know how it happened. The days were long, the stress was high, and the summer flew. And it was awesome.  But while this all happened, everything, and nothing, changed.  When you're on campus for up to 18 hours a day, sometimes nothing of magnitude happens, but during that same amount of time, the effect of all of these days of 'nothing' on a regular basis add up to something.  Here's what I've learned or discovered has changed about me during the past 2 months: I gained weight :( I was doing an awesome job of working out and eating right until mid-June when work really took over my life.  And despite the fact that I was walking all over campus, it happened. I wasn't eating well (or how I like to) and wasn't getting my heart rate up enough regularly. I also sat for long periods of time in between sessions during the day. I hate how I feel, so here's how I...

Fight or flight- I'm sure you've heard about it. According to the internet, it's:  The  fight-or-flight response  (also called the  fight, flight, freeze, or fawn response  [in PTSD],  hyperarousal , or the  acute stress response ) is a physiological reaction that occurs in response to a perceived  harmful event ,  attack , or threat to survival. [1]  It was first described by  Walter Bradford Cannon . [a] [2]  His theory states that animals react to threats with a general discharge of the sympathetic nervous system , priming the animal for fighting or fleeing. [3]  ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fight-or-flight_response) I think with humans, it takes a lot of different forms. But I saw it in full force last night at the 4th of July fireworks in downtown Raleigh.  I was at Big Easy with my friend Anna, after having had an awesome dinner with her family to celebrate her birthday.  Downtown was madness- a lot of ...

As many people in my life know, this is an insane time of year for me. It's the magical orientation season, where I spend anywhere from 12-18 hours a day on campus facilitating our new community members receiving information on a variety of topics and working with our student leaders. My life is dictated by the hands on the face of my watch, down to the second. Where I am, what I need to be doing, if I have time to go to the restroom and if I can talk to anyone outside of my campus family. It's a give and take, a push and pull, and consumer of all of my energies. So when I say that I've been thinking a lot about time lately, it's a dramatic understatement.  But as I go through these daily cycles, I do find time to have some really great conversations.  And time has been the center of a lot of those conversations lately. And how time in the grand sense is such a funny thing. The timing of how and when things occurs is an interesting 'system' (for lack of a be...