quote | taking risks

To live is to take risks. It is absolutely central. Courage and risk are essential to aliveness. And aliveness is the thing that we all strive for and long for, yet sometimes barricade ourselves against out of fear … even as we are still longing for it. If we are not taking risks, it is for the same reason that people do take risks, namely, we want to be alive. We all want the same thing. I’m reminded of an elderly man who lives in a house with a steep wheelchair ramp leading down to the street. There is always a lot of traffic on his street and every morning my friend sees him going full speed down the ramp in his wheelchair. One day she asked him, “Isn’t this dangerous?” And he said with sparks in his eyes, laughing, “Yesss, it is!”

Br. David Steindl-Rast 

quote | to be a full human being

It costs so much to be a full human being that there are very few who have the enlightenment or the courage to pay the price.... One has to abandon altogether the search for security, and reach out to the risk of living with both arms. One has to embrace the world like a lover. One has to accept pain as a condition of existence. One has to court doubt and darkness as the cost of knowing. One needs a will stubborn in conflict, but apt always to total acceptance of every consequence of living and dying.
-morris west

quote | the cost

"It costs so much to be a full human being that there are very few who have the enlightenment or the courage to pay the price. One has to abandon altogether the search for security and reach out to the risk of living with both arms open. One has to embrace the world like a lover. One has to accept pain as a condition of existence." - Morris West
Source: quoted at herondance.org


what does it look like to "embrace the world like a lover?"

the amazing race | the submission

one of my goals this year was to apply for the amazing race. hahahahaahah. (that was a genuine laugh, in case you were wondering if it was real.) i'm laughing because this goal is pretty stankin' random, and i don't think i would've thought of it if i didn't have some special people in my life i could imagine doing it with. i'm feeling like a lucky girl right now. 

when i mentioned it to my boss richard earlier this year, we both realized quickly that we should apply together. well, the deadline for the application sprung up on us two days before it was due (july 15), so we scrambled to put something together. for a moment, i was worried that we wouldn't be able to meet up to make a video because richard was in montana, but we coordinated meeting up at sfo on deadline day (without a panda suit, sorry).

so here's everything we submitted for season 20 of the amazing race: (my photo, his photo, our photo, a 70 word bio, and a 3-minute video)

team bio: Richard is Liz's boss. They’re a dynamic duo defined by good communication, brilliant brainstorming, and serious fun. A once polite, professional relationship has grown into authentic friendship. Still, Richard gets micromanagy under stress, and Liz is queen of at-the-deadline delivery. They’re sometimes prone to "magical thinking" and are working on being more practical. They share a passion for travel, adventure, and courageous experimentation. They try, fail, and get back up!

team video:

submitted!

if we don't hear back by august 15th, then it means we didn't make the first cut. call me optimistic, but i think we have a really good chance because i'm pretty sure the show has never had a boss/employee team of color, and definitely not one who have won. we're a unique blend.  just sayin.  ;-)