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Personal

2014 is…

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The year of PANTONE 18-3224, Radiant Orchid.
The Centenary of the First World War.
The year of the Wood Horse.
The 450th anniversary of Shakespeare’s birth.
The Centennial of the Royal Ontario Museum.
The 350th anniversary of New Jersey.
The International year of Crystallography.
The International year of Family Farming.
The European year of Reconciling Work and Family Life.

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My Projects

2013 was…

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2013 was the year I got serious about weightlifting, shot a gun for the first time, took my first private writing retreat, visited Poland, Greece, Spain and Denmark for the first time, saw Einstein on the Beach live, cried in a movie theatre not because of the movie, forgave myself, forgave others, made some new friends, reconnected with some old friends, started smoking again, switched to e-cigarettes, quit Facebook for good, started buying better wine, went to the Venice Biennale, tried to learn Dutch, went to Paris and didn’t go to a single art museum, tried to figure out what love is, ate many beautiful meals in many different cities, hosted a Canadian Thanksgiving dinner at my home, decided not to employ unpaid interns on my curating website anymore, took the very early morning train back home after a late night in Rotterdam a few times, started shooting real film again, started (sporadically) meditating, felt physical and emotional pain, felt joy, worked hard, and decided to make art again.

Categories
My Projects

Lifting Heavy Things

Ewa_Mizdal_2012

I was never good at sports: always picked last for the team, left warming the bench, and getting ribbons for “participation” instead of placing in the top 3. For years I just assumed that I’m no good at any kind of sport and the only thing I can do is go for walks and do the occasional bit of yoga to ensure I don’t become a total couch potato.

Fast forward to now: barring travel to far-flung places, I’m religiously in the gym three times a week, doing barbell squats, deadlifts, overhead presses, rows, and bench presses. My personal records so far are a 70kg squat, 75kg deadlift, 50kg bench press, 32.5kg overhead press, and 38kg row.

There is something special about getting under the barbell and lifting something heavy (especially if it’s almost as heavy or heavier than you are). The challenge quickly becomes as mental as it is physical, as you wonder if you are truly capable of doing it. There is a tendency to become hungry to break personal records and constantly progress at any cost (just ask any steroid user), but your body stops you from going too far too fast. It is an exercise in patience and humility to do these apparently simple movements with absolutely correct form. It is also an exercise in believing in yourself and achieving things you never thought were possible. There is nothing like a difficult squat to force you to conjure up all your willpower and mental focus; there is nothing like a failed bench press to remind you that you are going to be a perpetual student of this craft of how to move mountains without injuring yourself.

Over the years I have joined many gyms, and am usually given the following advice: lots of cardio, a few isolation exercises on the weight machines, and hundreds of crunches. Needless to say I found this incredibly boring, but put on the best music I had and plowed through, thinking that what I was doing was good for me and that I should suffer nobly through it like one would a fat-free sugar-free flavour-free piece of “cake”.

Naturally my interest always waned and my gym memberships would lapse — I’m bad at sports after all, right? Eventually I became interested in what the guys on the other side of the gym were doing — basically lifting heavy things off the floor and over their heads. The barbell siren was calling, I just needed someone to show me how to do it, so I asked, and started with the empty bar and small weights. I found it very satisfying, but got stuck at squatting around 40 kgs. It felt comfortable (read: easy), I did my sets, did a bunch of other exercises which were mostly a waste of time, but then went home feeling good because of the primacy of the barbell work. Then I stumbled upon Stronglifts.com, a programme devised by Mehdi Hadim. What he proposed was very simple: only 5 lifts, 3 times a week, no special gear, just you and the barbell, and adding a little more weight each time. His personal story is inspiring, and his attitude is refreshing (no “broscience”, a proponent of working the mind with meditation as much as working the body, etc). I was hooked, and joined his Inner Circle online community as soon as I could (a smart move).

I am going to take this as far as I can, no looking back. There is no desire to skip or slack, there is not even a need to listen to music while working out anymore. I am hooked and totally focused. The bottom line is that inherent in every physical challenge there is a mental one, and if you have not yet found your physical challenge, it is out there, and it is worth doing.

Photo: Polish weightlifter Ewa Mizdal at the London Olympics — a very inspiring image.
Video: Me squatting 70kgs.

Categories
Asides Technology

My goodbye letter to Facebook

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Hi friends. I deactivated my account a couple weeks ago and found that with the time I saved I was doing:
– more online Dutch practice (on memrise.com)
– more brain games (on lumosity.com)
– more reading interesting things that are relevant to me
– more drinking tea and staring out the window (very important for us creative industry types)
– more online courses (yeah MOOCs are not the new face of education, but useful to pick up a thing or two)

In other words, it was better for me.

My friends who I connect with here who I don’t see very often (hello people in Canada, the US, New Zealand, the UK, etc) let’s have one on one time on Skype. My Skype handle is mkultra0000. Add me.
I still use Twitter, because it’s a usable archive of links to research I want to look at again. The FB Wall is too unwieldy for that. You can also connect with me there, I’m @mkasprzak.

Email me, Skype me, send me an SMS or even call (I don’t always pick up though, maybe I’m busy staring out the window), or best of all — write me an old fashioned letter or postcard if you are really after my heart.

Also think of me when you are listening to Glenn Gould, watching The Sopranos, shooting a gun down at the range, at a great exhibition, at a crappy exhibition, digging out your real film camera and taking some pictures, doing some barbell squats, making some delicious meal out of what you have on hand, stealing the hotel toiletries, appreciating some Finnish design, riding your bike aimlessly after midnight, holding a falcon on your arm, or any other nice shared memory that we have. That means more than a thousand “likes”.

So I’m just back to say I’m downloading all my stuff and moving on. Soon.
It’s been fun, but it’s kinda feeling like leaving Friendster in 2005. Time to go.

Happy trails!

My comments on my own post:
If you want to do the same, download your info here: https://www.facebook.com/help/131112897028467 and then deactivate here: https://www.facebook.com/settings?tab=security
And then go read this great article by Rebecca Solnit about our fragmented attention spans these days, and the pleasure of focusing on one thing at a time. (Sorry to say, it means not just quitting Facebook but being present… that’s next level). http://www.lrb.co.uk/v35/n16/rebecca-solnit/diary