On Taking the High Road: "Elevate" - Part 7 of ...

(This post was written at 10pm on Saturday, May 30, 2020. Much has changed since then.)

There is no high road.

I gotta go high (gotta go high)
I gotta elevate (I gotta elevate)

Michelle Obama, in her speech at the 2016 Democratic national convention said,

When they go low, we go high.

I agree. when given the choice, I aim to go high. It raises the expectations of the people around you, it usually means you won’t look back with any regrets.

But.

As I sit here during the week where George Floyd’s death at the hands of a police officer is amplifying waves of simmering racial unrest, and there is no high road.

Earlier in the day, I watched protesters take the seeming high road in Philadelphia as they walked through the city, demanding racial justice. It was all shades of skin tone calling attention to inequalities that have become clear to anyone involved. It was the supposed high road, causing traffic to back up, and bicycling police officers clear the way. But as the news comes out tonight, tomorrow and in months to come, we will see that the high road is being populated less and less.

But tonight.

Tonight I sit and watch the small section of Wilmington, DE I can see suffer.

Teens are bored.

The weather is warm.

Actions are amplified by the amount of social media followers you have (or can gain) by one-upping the next person.

And.

Now I see windows broken on shops outside our window that have nothing to do with happened in Minneapolis.

When the sound of glass breaks without drawing sirens, another breaks.

When everyone has a camera, and everyone is in a crowd, it is a feeling of invisibility that makes invincibility the next logical step.

Another window breaks, and another, and another.

With a street full of struggling businesses and “for rent'“ signs more common than sales ads, teens quickly take what’s available now that the windows are broken.

Up the street there are sirens and more attention for higher-earning stores like Starbucks and a popular Italian restaurant, which means our street, still in the shadows, is only getting closer to that feeling of invincibility.

Rapidly, the teenagers move onto another glass storefront, a business that has slashed its hours in half already due to the pandemic demand being kow, and here, they break the windows as well.

Any pre-tense of protest is gone, and now it’s just a party.

A convenience store with broken windows means quick access to sugar, to adrenaline, to validation that they have earned this.

Soon after, a large construction dumpster full of discarded renovation remnants has been set on fire. The rebuilding that Wilmington has fought so hard to do is in flames.

At this point, I don’t know what I can do.

I have the privilege to watch all of this take place from my gentrified apartment building that I’m sure took the place of more deserving housing a few years ago. (We are safe, only shaken up as the state police came a little later to break up the congregation.)

But right now, there is no high road.

We have a responsibility to figure out how to get back to any road. To any path that leads to something. We have spent the last three years seeing America fall into exactly what was promised - attitudes and prejudices of the 50s and 60s (if we’re lucky- earlier attitudes if we're not). We have seen Americans turn their back on their borders and call the police on their own neighbors. We have posted protest videos and hashtags and donated to campaigns and fought for a bigger voice and created inspiring music and art and poetry.

But here we are.

Teenagers are protesting a lack of direction, a lack of education, a lack of a purpose.

My last thought, bringing this back to the comic book world where the intro song lyrics originated from ends with the movie The Joker. (Song lyrics introing this post are from Spiderman, I know one is Marvel and the Joker is DC, but stay with me.) I agree with the critics that artistically, The Joker was a captivating movie. But - I hated how i felt after I finished watching it. Yes, it is fiction, yes in the world of the Joker, Batman will come in in another 7-part film behemoth and save the day over and over and over again. But you leave the movie with the Joker reveling in the chaos he has created, with (as yet) no consequences on him.

And that’s how I feel right now. Nicely put, inequalities are the Joker of our times. They exist, and you accept them, doing your best to follow the rules and wait for some miraculous second-coming of Barack… er Batman to propel us forward. More cynically, our current President has set the scene for all forms of race-baiting, fear-mongering and conspiracy-theory-advancing to become common place. And the result is a country standing on top of a police car watching the chaos it has created around it.

I don’t have any sort of solution right now. I just know that there is restlessness, there is fear, there is distrust, there is little truth available.

Forget the high road, let’s just find an actual road.

___

Re-cap - where did these posts come from?

The song “Elevate” from the Enter the Spider-Verse Soundtrack is one of those songs that sticks with you. You can use it on a run for some direct motivation, or just feel pumped when you watch the movie and think, “well that was catchy” and move on with your life.

Or, like me, you can over-analyze it to death and take it entirely out of context.

So here we are.

Today’s lyrics -

I gotta go high (gotta go high)
I gotta elevate (I gotta elevate)

Police gather in the aftermath of the protests in Wilmington

Life Without a Barbell: Quarantine-Friendly Fitness Equipment to Use at Home

It’s day 8 of doing your civic duty to stay away from other people, and you can feel your strength slipping away. You could do some more air squats, but that’s basically the same thing as sitting on your couch. You could do some sit-ups, but I mean, again, you’re already sitting anyway.

What you really need is a barbell. Life isn’t life without a barbell in your hands. Because functional fitness.

But wait… what if there were other objects around you that are heavy and can be picked back up and put back down. Moving boxes to organize your closet, picking up furniture to clean underneath, … Nevermind. Those are chores, not fitness.

For fitness, what we really need is something else to buy.

So, for whatever reason, a barbell and squat rack are out of the question. Maybe you live in an apartment where every square foot is precious, maybe you know you’ll have a gym to go back to any way when these disease prevention necessities comes to an end. So what are some other fitness things to consider buying? Note: Due to demand, not all of these are available currently, but this is also a great wish list for the future.

What’s important to consider when getting some at-home equipment?

When we start to think about what would make the most sense for something to buy that takes up closet space at home, there are a few things to keep in mind:

• Versatility - Equipment that can be used for as many things as possible. Going back to the ten general skills of fitness, we want equipment that hits as many of these as possible (endurance, stamina, strength, flexibility, power, speed, coordination, agility, balance, and accuracy)

• Compactness - Taking up as little space as possible

• Value - Equipment that is worth the investment

• Simplicity - Equipment that you don’t have to worry about fixing or breaking

With those areas to focus on, there are a few pieces that seem to make sense, but may not be worth it: For example - adjustable dumbbells and kettlebells. They have a lot of versatility, but all of the attachments take up space, they are expensive, and some part of them may break or get lost. So what’s left? Wasting away watching Netflix and giving up all hope?

What are some possible fitness equipment pieces to consider?

See the embedded spreadsheet for what we’ll talk about in the rest of the article. Keep scrolling to get to our summary recommendations more quickly.

Kettle Gryp: I’m not sure what movement is shown here, but this is what the Kettle Gryp looks like.

The Empack: A great backpack and very versatile

What at-home fitness things are the most versatile?

In terms of versatility, equipment that let’s us check the most boxes at once makes it the most versatile. Here, we see that things like dumbbells and kettlebells are king.

Versatility Comparison - Ranking is out of a Max Score of 10

What at-home fitness things make the most sense to buy?

The list below is a starting point for gym things to accumulate. The higher the utility score, the more beneficial it may be.

The utility score is:

Utility = (Cost per pound + Versatility score) / Cost

That score gives a great way to decide what the next piece of equipment is to check off the list. Or if you have some money to burn, what expensive items to get first.

• Top value purchases:

  • Kettle Gryp (if you already have access to some dumbbells)

  • Jump Rope

  • Yoga Blocks and Straps

  • 3 Lacrosse Balls

• Quality purchases:

  • Gymnastics Rings

  • 2 Light Dumbbells

  • Medium-Heavy Kettlebell

  • Empack

  • Resistance Bands (Pull-Up Assist)

Overall Utility Comparison - The Higher the Score, the Better

You can of course fill your closets with all sorts of other fitness junk… er fitness tools, but they will probably just end up in a yard sale or donation bin down the road. Happy fitnessing!

That’s great, but one day I will build a home gym (space isn’t the issue).

If you are in the market for beginning to put an affordable home gym together (squat rack and barbell included). there are a lot of great tips out there. Check out Garage Gym Reviews for tips on a $500 at-home gym or good value approaches for different home gym decisions.

On Perseverance: "Elevate" - Part 6 of ...

Elevate - Perseverance

I've fallen, on my last lifeline
There's no way in my right mind

Today we celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy - we celebrate through service, through reflection, through re-imagined presentations of his works.

For me, one of the experiences that will always stick with me is visiting the archives of MLK’s works in Atlanta. On display were his original writings, clips of speeches and some mementos from his life. What I will always remember is just how much he wrote. He wrote books, speeches, dissertations. And he gave a sermon every week. Every week he stood up and preached to those who wanted to listen and to a future that no one could yet envision.

And he kept going, and going and going.

These past few weeks, I read through Questlove’s book Creative Quest, given to me my brother as a Christmas present. In our family, books are a common gift, and either come at a time where you’re reflecting on a certain area of your life or it’s a book that the other person really thinks need to be read because you’ll get a lot out of it. As an example, my Mom gave me American Gods as it was becoming a cult following but early enough so that I could decide if it was something that I would delve into myself before TV adaptations and quote excerpts colored my opinion. But that’s a book for another post.

Almost always, the creative dedicated minority has made the world better.

-Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

In Questlove’s series of chapters on creativity and collaboration, he walks through topics of inspiration, mentorship, getting started, networking, curating, marketing and dealing with success (or failure) in your creative pursuits. All of these topics would have a much shorter list of examples to draw from had civil rights leaders like Dr. King and others not kept pressing forward to work toward equal rights and opportunities. That in itself is a good reminder. Questlove talks of his relationship with a Spotify playlist-worthy collection of black musicians beyond his own band The Roots - D’Angelo, Lauryn Hill, LL Cool J, Erykah Badu, Musiq Soulchild, Jazmine Sullivan, Jay-Z, Donald Glover. Wondering if that list would look the same had MLK and others not persisted is humbling.

There are dozens of quotes I jotted down from the book, and all return to the theme of relentless effort to keep going. Said a different way,

Don’t start stopping.

-Questlove

When we start to hesitate to try something new, when we start to hesitate to explain why something you heard is racist, when we start to hesitate to create another work after receiving criticism, when we start to stop going to that open mic, when we start to stop donating to a candidate or cause we believe in because money is tight this month, when we start to stop encouraging our family to get healthy. when we start to stop taking care of ourselves, when we start to stop looking for the job that utilizes our talents effectively. When we start stopping the little things, because it’s inconvenient or tricky or just hard, then that’s when we fail to honor those who have striven for more before us.

So hopefully today, you took an extra second to get back in touch with a friend, reminded someone that representing or just tried something new.

Make things. Make your way to the things that others have made. Make theories of your own. All the advice in the world won't help if you don't start the perfectly imperfect process of creating.

Don't let the world return to the way it was before.

-Questlove

(The lyrics that opened this post are from the Spider-Man Enter the Spider-Verse song Elevate, the basis for my recent posts.)