#planking

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The hypnotist induces catalepsy by suggestion. La nouvelle médication naturelle. New natural healing methods. 1899.

I wasn’t exactly what you’d call patriotic. As an edgy, Tumblr-obsessed teenager in 2013 (back when Tumblr was the wild west of the internet, before the mass clean up), I had started exploring different philosophies. At the time, I was reading The Communist Manifesto and watching Whitest Kids U’ Know sketches about 9/11 being an inside job.

(Millenial tumblr post, 2013)

Gutiérrez talks about how “learning is conceived of as a process occurring within ongoing activity” and at that point, my “ongoing activity” was just trying to survive being an adult without any kind of safety net.

I made my decision, not out of fealty for my country, but out of necessity. I wanted a place to sleep, I wanted to be fed. And most importantly, I wanted my college paid for.

I had to prepare, mentally and physically. I had never been active before, so I started running around my neighborhood. At first, it was just a quarter mile. Then it turned into one mile, then three, and before I knew it, I was running five miles every day. My sister Sam, the movie lover, thought it would be a good idea to show me Full Metal Jacket. Terrible idea, and afterward that’s when it really started to hit me. I was about to go to boot camp.