Spartan Racing

My son recently took part in a Super Spartan Race. The training was a great focus for him to have as he moved away from home and started college and I am grateful to his good friend for asking Max to join him on this extraordinary endeavour.

Luke & Max before the race.

It was challenging and there were 3-4 obstacles of the 21 that Max could not complete and so he did the required 30 burpees at those obstructions. The physical upper body strength challenges were a cinch for my 6’4” fella but the ones that called for him to pull his 200 lb. body up a rope or incline were the tough ones. At the end of the 15 km race, it appeared as if he could not muster anymore drive to keep going, but apparently a Spartan helps a Spartan and so his good friend, who had climbed the rope easily, did the 30 burpees with him. This is the part of the competition that I am in awe of most. Yes, it is physically and emotionally challenging but the cooperation to help others just finish, is a noticeable component.

My daughter, Jillian and I observed people helping by holding others' feet on an obstacle in order for them to get their hands in a better position, a son helping a mother steady her grip on another obstacle, a friend waiting for another while they massaged a leg cramp before moving on, and Max and his friend helped someone who was drowning in the water hazard as well as assisted another fellow get over the top of an obstacle.  

This is certainly the kind of activity that I am grateful my children value and I hope that Max will do another race sometime.

Bravo Max and Luke! Be proud!

~ Ellyn

Max & Luke following the race.

Peace Prevails

With a gentle voice and a determined goal, filmmaker Velcrow Ripper, takes us on a journey to the Ground Zeros of the world, looking for the sacred in the scared. Looking for hope.

Today as I remember so many who have succumb to the destruction brought about by people, I once again watch this hope-filled documentary and remember the peaceful warmth that washed over my body as I stepped out of a bus into lower Manhattan Island where the towers used to stand. It was a calm and warm evening in May and unexpectedly quiet. So silent, that I could hear my heartbeat, steadily… slowly… I am grateful to have walked in this silence with a loving friend along with our daughters who also felt the shift in the energy. Initially, I assumed that I would feel a darkness, a sadness, but I did not.

My heart and thoughts surround so many babies and their mamas all over this beautiful world, as they scramble to protect and deliberately offer a brightness for the future, for a better life… be it in present day Syria or Egypt or through the past.

For:

The people involved in the Union Carbide disaster of Bhopal, India

The people affected by the Killing Fields of Phnom Penh

The people influenced by the siege of Sarajevo

And Auschwitz, and Flanders Field, and Joan of Arc who was burned at the stake.

Hiroshima, Chernobyl, Afghanistan, Rwanda and many many more.

Just as Ripper implores, I too know that no ONE is expendable and I try to make sense of this world that I live in.

And so... I turn to my pen in order to come to grips with what goes on from leader to leader, person to person, and I thank writers, filmmakers, artists, all peacekeeping missions and organizations who promote unity and cooperation that exist around our pearl of a planet. From The Afghan Women’s Network to UNAMIR, I am in awe of their strength of resolve, kindness and understanding and have to believe that our collective spirit is indeed sacred and will prevail.

~ Ellyn