Healers & Hipbones

Every morning (most of the time) I wake up at 5:15 to get a 2 mile walk in before the beginning of the day. I once thought this kind of thing was a bit masochistic, especially with the kind of heat we’ve been experiencing this year in good ol’ Texas.

One day though, something changed my mind about the whole thing, and I came out with a more positive look on the idea of doing a task most people couldn’t manage.

I don’t think I’ve ever gotten a sky pick this good. I tranquil moment that was only broken by the urge to capture it. There’s some allegory here for appreciating little things, or perhaps finding value in thankless work; probably a bit of both.

This idea: focusing more on yourself than the perception or fanfare you’d receive for the tasks you’re doing, speaks volumes for a lot of different folks and industries. This mad dash to announce a thing, or talk about a thing, or show off a thing… it’s all rooted in focusing on other people as opposed to the most important factor: oneself.

A current show I’m working on is called “The Great Cleric” (available on Crunchyroll) has a similar tone in that the protagonist is hyper fixated on improving himself and using his skills to be of benefit to the world around him. The accolades, or rather, the spoils both monetary and acclaim are non-existent in his goals.

The show itself has on overtone about the pitfalls of health and wealth; suggesting that people with the power (or gift) to provide care, or mend the wounds of others shouldn’t be motivated by greed, and that the ability to live without significant financial strain being tied to one’s wellbeing be commonplace. Universal Healthcare, essentially.

The young kids might call this, “Based.”

Regardless, it struck me as an interesting parallel to my morning walk; not so much the healthcare bit, but the thankless work. Somewhere within each of us is the ability to see what might be fruitful and fulfilling in the long run, and not the short term dopamine that drives a lot of well intentioned, albeit terrible decision making.

A 2 mile walk at the ass-crack of dawn means nothing really to the people in my immediate orbit. But, it yields a longterm feeling of content on my part, and I get a pretty neat photo in the process. The take away should be the impulse to do something that no one needs to applaud, or possibly know about.

Small, incremental items that grow over time. It always get’s easier, but the hard part is doing it consistently. You never know what might pop up in the process of doing something for yourself, but I guarantee it’s almost always is positive.