Blog

Strolling Observations

Carl Setzer

Moving through evening air
At the correct speed to notice
Changes amidst life around me.

Cherry trees blooming, blossoms
A gentle riot upon still visible branches
But, a few trees remain barren, though

Not yet dead. Springtime’s possibility
Not accepted yet upon those limbs
Winter’s grip remains, but waning.

Spring Forward I Guess

Carl Setzer

Is it spring back/fall forward? Something like that I guess. Anyway, it’s time again for one of our great wastes of time: the semi-annual changing of the clocks around daylight savings time. So, my chums, do remember to adjust your clocks appropriately so that you’re in sync (not the band) with everyone else. And think about the lost hour while your whiling away your Saturday evening. The wee hours of the morn are a bit more wee than last weekend.

Transportation and Accessibility To Opportunity

Carl Setzer

Later today I’ll be giving a lift to one of the teens at my taekwondo studio, and tomorrow to one of my son’s friends for a rugby game. I’m often pinged for last minute rides, sometimes that involve a fair amount of driving. A few friends question why I make myself that accessible for such, “am I just being a sucker”? The short answer is “no”.

One of the things that I deeply value is helping people connect with their passions. The thought of someone not being able to participate in a passion out of a simple transportation issue bothers me greatly. Well, sometimes the easiest way to assist with that is simply facilitating presence. If my gift of a few minutes of driving helps connect someone to their passion, then it’s a glorious investment in the communities that I love.

Growing Healthier

Carl Setzer

A few years ago, my weight crept past 220 lbs. With clothes tight, belts tighter to the point of needing replacement, I felt fear. In my mid-40s, all the diseases associated with obesity stared me coldly in the eye. Even more frightening, I noticed a few people, slightly older than me, with major mobility issues. All that lead to a call to get healthy.

Now I didn’t race for the nearest cross-fit course. I just added back some things I love: cycling and walking, also attacking some dietary “low hanging fruit” (limit soda, cut back on sweets, smaller portions) and ten pounds dropped quickly. But each additional drop presents challenges. So I adopted several smartphone tools, the main one now being MyFitnessPal. And I keep looking for better tools.

About 6 months back, I noticed my wife’s Fitbit laying unused and asked to try it out. I hated the thing! It displayed, in great detail, my sedentary life. So, I parked the thing. Then, around New Year’s, my fallow account got friends connecting to me. Funny, that motivated me to find the Fitbit and relaunch the tool. Now, though, the lack of activity challenges me to grow forward. I’ve been trying to add more activity to my life, deliberately so. Small steps, small steps; pun completely intended.

Last night I noticed the nutrition tab in MyFitnessPal and was, again, horrified. Too much fat and carbs, too little of myriad key nutrients. For sometime I’ve thought about building a menu about achieving great nutrition. Well, time to up that. So, a brand new life project. Got ideas, suggestions, etc, let me know.

Of living a life of mission

Carl Setzer

Most of my life I’ve loathed shoes. Remembering Jeremy Irons’ priest in The Mission walking barefoot into the jungle, something about his barefootedness struck me. Immense humility, a comfort with a deliberate choice of poverty, and, most powerful to me, a direct connection to the earth.

Those comprise elements I’ve tried to interweave throughout my life, with varying success. Yet they reflect my deepest values. Consider the time I spent trying to minister to the needs of Seattle’s street people, though my shoes remained on. I tried to adopt a life of focused poverty, to mixed success. The fact it was a choice, on my part, isolated me. I deeply felt myself to be a interloper, though not by any action of unwelcome. But my simple ignorance of their life, of the basics of survival within that world, eventually proved too strong a barrier.

I still deeply believe in voluntary simplicity. The world cannot support all humanity with the West’s level of affluence. Backing away from our immense consumption is critical for creating a truly just world. Though I’m not terribly humble, I’ve at least developed a flair for understatement and a non-confrontational style that sort of passes. And I still avoid shoes as much as possible, though wearing flip-flips instead of baring my feet. So, perhaps, I’ve captured these pieces. At least, I hope, their essence.