A Week of Contrasts

This has been a week of contrasts. 

I have run four very hilly workouts followed by one speed workout on the treadmill.  The hill workouts are important for general fitness and for training for races with hills.  But they don’t help much in preparing for a 5K.  I have a 5K coming up on New Year’s Day.  The second year in a row for what may become a tradition.  The key is recognizing that both are needed and figuring out how to mix them together to get the fitness and race results I am looking for.

There were other contrasts in running.  Warmer and colder days.  Dressed with different layers.  Indoors and outdoors.  Windy and not. The variation is one of the things that makes running so interesting.

It has been a week of many different arts and crafts projects.  Glass etching.  Making a basket.  Painting on slate.  Painting on canvas.  Decorating a silk scarf.  Designing a bookmark, and designing a frame for hanging in a window.  Working with different surfaces and different media.  Some of the projects turning out with all that I expected.  Others turning out different what I had envisioned.  Each an experiment.  Each an opportunity to explore and work toward understanding how to do the same project better if I were to try it again.  Some of what I made will stay with me.  Some will go to my office.  Some will be given as gifts.  What is somewhat ironic is that I was most challenged by the landscape painting.  That required a lot of blending.  For someone who loves mixing and matching things in my life, I obviously need some work on how best to mix and match in certain situations.  Good life lesson. 

It has been a week of time alone (running and catching up on work), time with strangers (craft projects in classrooms in which I was the only one from my family), and time with family.  Again, each of these types of time is a necessary part of my life.  And I need to have the right mix to maintain mental and physical health. 

So, I have benefitted from the many contrasts this week.  Life is about contrasts.  Mixing and matching to achieve a balanced whole.  Not always a coherent whole.  But definitely a balanced whole.