Dream - Design - Move

I’m doing this for me.

Get outside and move today do it for yourself. Take care of your mind and body by nourishing it with movement. 

Be in the world.

Strength. Awareness. Ability. Do it for you.

Nikkie Zanevsky, one of our founders, showing off her fluid movement at Tompkins Square Park in NYC.

Hey there! I’m glad you sent this in. Thanks for asking!

Your character has 2 things going for her:

1) She’s not falling from THAT high a height. She couldstill have significant injuries, but a second-story balcony is only about 12-15feet off the ground. While that’s triple body height – our threshold for where wesuspect serious injuries – it’s also not, say, the 5th floor (whichis likely fatal).

But the person she lands on—assuming she plants her feet ontheir shoulders—actually helps reducethe height of the fall, making it closer to 7-10 feet, which is a much more survivable injury!

2) She’s landing on something soft (compared to concrete).The person may alter the way she lands, but they’ll also slow her down over alonger period of time than simply hitting the pavement.

Remember, it’s not the fall that kills your characters,friends, it’s the sudden stop at the bottom.

As to the specific injury patterns and “safest” way offalling, I’d say she would be best off going feet-first and aiming for theperson’s shoulders or back with her feet.

Now, with a straight drop with a landing on the heels, you’dexpect to see a very particular pattern of injuries called Don Juan Syndrome. Whathappens is that the person lands heel-first, and the force just travelsdirectly up from there, breaking calcaneous (heels), knees, pelvis, and spinalcompression injuries. DO NOT WANT.

However, if yourcharacter has any kind of martial arts training or has taken any parkour atall, she’ll have a better idea how to land: feet parallel, knees relaxed, land on the balls of her feet, allowher hips to tuck behind (rather than hyperflex the knees and push the hipsforward).

If she does it right, and she controls not just the firstfall (into the person) but the secondfall (awkwardly, probably backwards, onto the pavement from the height of thatperson’s shoulders), she may walk away relatively unscathed, though for realism’ssake I’d appreciate at least asprained ankle or wrist, or a goose egg on the back of her head.

I’m not a traceur, but this video has a surprisingly goodillustration of the body mechanics she wants: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31IM_PRHoeg 

As for her victim, they’re in for a bad day. That kind offorce landing on them, completely unexpected, makes me think of things likebroken clavicles and shoulders, plus injuries from getting pushed to theground, so up to and including broken wrists, broken arms, head strikes (withscrapes / hematomas / …) plus the possibility of a concussion.

Honestly, they could both walk away with concussions. Hoorayfor concussions!

From a reader’s perspective, I’m really curious as to whether or not she’s aiming for the person orif they just happen to get in her way. If she’s self-centered enough to think “they’llbreak my fall”, that’s a really interesting trait for a character to have. Ifshe’s trying to hurt them that’s evenmore interesting!

Either way, I hope this was useful!!

xoxo, Aunt Scripty

It is easy to be unhappy. 

It is easy to focus on the day to day distractions while avoiding the bigger, underlying issues. It is easy to deflect and blame others, to make excuses for yourself or a situation. It is easy to take the low road, to give that person ‘just one more’ chance, to ‘wait and see’ how things play out, to sit in the safety of inaction.  

But happiness requires action. It requires rolling up your sleeves, pulling on your boots, and hiking up the mountain you’ve been avoiding–and sometimes all night, through sleet, snow, and storm. It requires thinking and work, a little risk, and, sometimes, pain.

…And it is more effort than most of us are willing to make, more risk than we are willing to face.  We would rather sit in the unhappiness, endure an unfulfilling job, live in a place we hate, stay in a relationship that is toxic, than risk being more unhappy than we already are. We are afraid to make that risk. But without taking that risk, we also have no chance at happiness.

Worse, the danger with tolerating unhappiness in your life is that unhappiness has an intrinsically infectious quality. It can start in one corner of your life and slowly seep into the rest if left unaddressed. While we can often contain our unhappiness for a time, manage it, ignore it, live with it and convince ourselves to be content, this fix is only temporary.  Soon enough it will grow to be present in so many aspects of our life that we simply won’t be able to ignore it, and pain becomes a certainty.

So, before it gets to that point, ask yourself today: 

What’s stopping you from being happy?  Why?

What big problem or toxic person are you avoiding dealing with?  

If you can’t quite figure it out the root of it all, or if you feel like you have a lot of things going on, try making a list. Don’t over think it the process. Set aside 5 minutes and write everything that comes to your mind that makes you unhappy. From there, choose the three things that give you the most stress, anxiety, or fear.

Once you’ve narrowed it down, then ask: 

What can I do today, in the present, to start addressing this?

Even if it is as small as acknowledging the problem out loud. Take steps today to identify the roots of your unhappiness and a map leading up and away from it. Then, tomorrow, take the first step.  

I’ll tell you right now, yes, it might not work out, You might get lost along the way, or hurt. You might end up somewhere completely unexpected or unhappy in a different way. But, without any action, there is also no hope for happiness.  

As Aristotle wrote, Happiness depends upon ourselves. 

Until next time, Adelaide Z.

Prompt | November 3

Why Move?

On Movement & The Discovery of Authentic Self

Movement & Play is an antidote to most of the personal suffering that human beings experience. On some deep level almost everyone feels insecure, afraid, separated, isolated, and unsure of his or her own authenticity and value.

Unstructured play or movement for the sake of movement is a highly authentic form of self expression.  By setting our own challenges and seeking our own solutions we engage in a very deep and personal form of self-empowerment and honest communication.  It may take a long time to move without fear of judgement, unknowing preconception, or need for external feedback, but ultimately this process of discovering your movement and creating and exploring your body is one that leads to an truly honest understanding and expression of self.

Through long term movement and in overcoming our challenges we release ourselves from our insecurities.  The universal nature of movement as a fundamental human activity helps break down barriers of isolation, for all need and participate in movement on some level.

Movement reaffirms our sense of individuality while welcoming us into a larger global community.

Miscellaneous Thoughts

Physical & Psychological Health

It goes without saying that there are serious psychological benefits to integrating movement into your everyday life.  Movement releases chemicals and hormones that positively impact your mental state.  It also of course positively impacts your body.

Physical Intelligence.

Movement is a path to physical intelligence: being able to use your body in any scenario effectively.  You fine tune the various senses and abilities, from balance to explosive power generation.  Your body is like an intelligent machine, and the more frequently you use it, the better you get at handling it.

Upkeep of the Vessel.

Take care of your body; You only receive one body in this life. Your body is kind of like a car. The longer you have it, the more miles you put on it, the more worn out it will become. It is of the utmost importance that you take care of it to the best of your ability, by putting in good fuel, winterizing it correctly, repairing parts as needed.

You only get one body in this life. It is your responsibility to take care of it. Your body is the vessel of your soul; the more healthy the vessel, the better off the soul.   We move to keep the vessel healthy, and in turn the soul happy.

Privilege

If you have the use of your body, you have the responsibility to use it. Do not be so frivolous to take advantage of a privilege you have been given. Not everyone has the use of their limbs.

Social Development

Movement, especially in the form of play with others, is an amazing medium through which to explore and develop a social identity.  Movement with others will begin to reveal to you your own insecurities and fears, as well as your personal strengths and confidence.  Social movement allows you to explore different fantasies, as well as test out various versions of potential interactions.  You are allowed, within the safe space of play, to explore who you are.

Joy

I move because it brings me joy.  Movement is one of the greatest pleasures, the use of our human bodies. It can be as satisfying as physical intimacy, as pleasurable as difficult mental puzzle, as gratifying as any great pleasure in the world.

Movement is joyous because movement is primal. It is essential to our human nature. To move is to return to that primal nature, to tap into some larger, historical energy that spans time & space. Everyone moves, before and after.  Movement is apart of culture, society, our history as human beings.

Movement is joyous because it is mine. No one can take movement away from me. Even if I had to sit still, I move. My spirit moves.  

Power

I move because it makes me feel powerful. The task of facing an obstacle, creating a strategy, testing that strategy over a course of time, refining, retesting, and ultimately overcoming (in one way or another)… this kind of mental and physical endurance to achieve a physical goal. I love it. It makes me feel like I can accomplish anything I set my body and mind to.  

Movement is one of the most all consuming and providing sources of power. Through movement, I am capable of anything. In Movement I am as capable as the next human being; nothing can hold me back. I don’t need a degree, I don’t need past experience. Everyone comes to the table with everything they need to excel and achieve human greatness: their bodies and their minds.

And you don’t need to necessarily have full or healthful function of either of those things in order to derive the power that comes through play. Again, the truest form of power in movement is the setting and achieving of personal goals, the realization that you are capable!

POWER.

Purpose

One of my favorite quotes from Marcus Aurelius goes as follows:

Architect: Giuseppe Perugini Location/Year: Via Porto Azzurro, 57, 00054 Fregane RM (Rome) Italie / 1971 Pictures/Source: Oliver Astrologo + Google / designboom

This is a fantastic little find, fallen into decay. It is a dynamic, visually stunning construction that begs to be climbed upon.  I really love some of these projects out of the 60s and 70s that echo older modernist forms.

Take a moment and ask yourself:

Daily Reminder:

Find something today you’re avoiding and tackle it, whether its in a relationship or in your training. Avoiding a difficult conversation or taking that jump? Figure out what is stopping you from doing it and start taking the steps to resolution.

Me:

I have been avoiding my last few exams for architecture licensing. When I step back and examine why, I realize I am terribly afraid to fail. I’m also afraid I might not be able to learn everything I need to. The information is complex and dense and unfamilar. It will be difficult!

Try This:

Write down 2-3 goals you have and then disassemble them. Write all the steps you’d need to take, including micro-steps, to see it happen.  If you don’t know how to start something, break it down even farther to even smaller steps.

We are often intimidated by our bigger goals because they sometimes seem impossible.  “Find a new job” is a lot bigger and broader than “Revise my resume” or even “Spend 2 hours looking at postings”.