Release
A lot of people use sports as a release.
A pressure valve.
Time with friends, giving your body a good healthy bit of physical exertion, clearing the mind... fun, healthy competition.
As much as I was pushed to love some sport, any sport, I was not into sports growing up... I'm still not.
I can watch a game with friends, but it is not something I'd choose to watch on my own. I guess the only exception is racing - I'll watch and enjoy almost any automotive racing... but that's about it.
I did learn to shoot trap and was pretty decent at it... but I never got hooked on it.
I also don't like fishing - no patience for it.
Well, except for Fly Fishing... I do love fly fishing. I think I enjoy it because a fly fisherman is actually involved in the act - constantly.
I obviously like kayaking - note one of my favorite photos I took of a dragonfly pair while I was in my kayak.
https://jjpdesigns.blogspot.com/2022/01/post-september.html
And hiking, biking... outdoor nature sorta' stuff.
I do also enjoy sword wielding... I've learned how to handle my own swords, but there is not a lot of opportunity to actually put that particular skill to use unless I'm going to become proficient, quit my job, and apply at Medieval Times. My swords enjoy a life of leisure displayed on our dining room well.
But my favorite sport that is actually categorized a sport, and involves a 'weapon', and you can do (and do legally without lots of government licensing and permits - unlike shooting a shotgun at a clay pigeon) just about anywhere is Archery.
I shoot both recurve (think traditional bow) and compound (think cables and pulleys)... and I actually prefer recurve.
My wife and son have also come to enjoy archery... they prefer compound.
And they are actually both quite good!
I think I like the quiet focus... clear the mind, relax the body, control the breathing... quiet... focus...
Release.
Quiet... Balance... Focus...
For me, those three things allow me to 'release' my mind - release it from the relentless stream of... everything.
My mind doesn't do 'stop'.
There has to be something... actually, everything.
In most sports I see strategy. Strategy does not provide my mind distraction - I think because there are so many variables that my mind feels it constantly needs to calculate. My mind will not NOT run calculations - and in sports there are equations - odds, probabilities, etc... and they are literally constantly in flux... so they need to be calculated on the go... relentlessly.
I know, I'm weird... but that's just how my brain works.
With something like archery my entire mind sees one equation - and that equation IS EVERYTHING.
Me, the bow, the arrow, the target, the breeze...
Solve...
Release.
Release - quiet and clear my mind to see the equation clearly.
Release - relax and balance myself, mentally and physically...
The Bow... The Arrow... the constants in the equation.
Release - focus and assess the breeze... adjust my targeting, adjust my draw - the variables in the equation.
Release.
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