Release

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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.

My son preparing...
My son preparing...
My son nocking the arrow...
My son nocking the arrow...
My son preparing to draw...
My son preparing to draw...
My son mid-draw..
My son mid-draw..
My son at full draw - side view...
My son at full draw - side view...
My son's first shot of the day...
My son's first shot of the day...
My son's first shot of the day... The first shot always provides the information needed to refine the variables for all shots that follow - distance\sights, breeze, and the such...
My son's first shot of the day... The first shot always provides the information needed to refine the variables for all shots that follow - distance\sights, breeze, and the such...

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