Usually, as I post one #LongFormSundays post, I already have the next percolating— this week, nothing.

I decided to accept this lack of divine inspiration. The easiest way to the other side of writer’s block is to write your way there. So, I’ll cover what’s on my mind: finals, spring break, and crossfit.

Course Three had highs and lows. Started a relationship with a lovely partner. Failed two exams while somehow maintaining my highest overall Course grade so far. Started a podcast! And played with some horses.

This finals week went pretty well— lab practical on Monday, exam three on Wednesday, cumulative course exam on Friday. Not very stressed, relaxed even, when compared to the avalanche of anxiety during first block’s finals. With finals over, it’s time for spring break: a week off classes before we start Course Four, gastrointestinal +renal, the final block of MS1.

I’m excited for spring break, a time to decompress and relax. I will spend the first half with family and staycationing. The second half will send me to Okeechobee for a camping music festival extravaganza with friends. It will be weird. It will be glorious.

And the CrossFit Open starts this week! A weekly and online competition with over a quarter-million athletes registered from around the world, it’s a great way to throwdown with friends and also see how you stack up within a large pool of data. I’ve competed Rx (prescribed) since 2013, and this year I decided to participate in the scaled (modified) division.

I want to lead by example and show the athletes at my gym that scaling is perfectly acceptable and that you can still get a devastatingly effective workout without Rx next to your score. Also, one of my resolutions was to place in the 75th percentile of the Open… and that’s a LOT easier to do in the scaled division! Overall, this aligns with my aim to play and enjoy my movement practice, rather than putting a lot of seriousness around five workouts with friends.

We’re approaching March; it’s a bit mad to realize that the year is already a quarter done and that I’ve experienced a winter without a frost. Time seems to be moving a bit faster these days. A week will zoom by, from Monday to Wednesday to Sunday. If I don’t think about it, four weeks will slip through my fingers and another month gone. I’m hoping the years will stay long!

I’m trying to slow myself down, but it’s definitely a practice and I fluctuate between alright and okay at it. Usually, #LongFormSundays provides a rhythm to my week. Slow and relaxed during the weekdays, with intensification during the weekend, a nice opposite and inverse to studies and the rest of life.

Adding in #ThursdaysOnDeath has changed the dynamic a bit. It’s really only about three hours per week: an hour to schedule and meet with the interviewee, an hour to record, and an hour to edit/post. But this weekly rhythm throws itself in the heart of my week, so Thursdays now seem to sneak up on me.

It’s a terribly fun project and I’m glad that this podcast keeps me exploring and pushing my boundaries. I’ll get used to the additional workload— few awesome things come easily and I adapt quickly to these kinds of pressures. Just excited to see where this adventure leads me!

Overall, I’m the happiest and most content I’ve been in a while. Things are moving fast, and I reckon life won’t slow down anytime soon. I’ve done more and grown faster in the past year than the previous twenty— can’t ask for much more, except for the trend to continue. Here’s to writer’s block!

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#LongFormSundays

• On learning through Rorschach tests (or a meditation on walking sticks and tapestries)
• On Death (or: Life, as told through four prompts)
• On positive and negative alarms (or a meditation on hourglasses and tattoos)

#ThursdaysOnDeath

• With Diego Gomez
• With Michael Watson
• With Grant Italiano