Cycling uphill as a metaphor for life goals | #9

Have you ever thought you couldn't achieve something so you didn't even try? This one is for you!

Hi friends, 

I played around with Midjourney’s blend function, putting the left two paintings in and it recreated four new images in my style. Super cool to experiment with artistic direction!

Been painting lots, reading loads and drawing too. Season 3 of writing together also kicked off at my work with Foster.

Ok, so this week I bring you a cheesy metaphor from my daily cycling musing, enjoy:

Although I don’t identify as a cyclist, cycling has become quite an integral part of my life as it is the most effective way I can get to my art studio. Cycling there takes around twenty minutes, while the bus with its multiple stops down a busy road can sometimes take up to an hour. Since I began cycling to the studio six days a week, I’d begun reflecting about cycling as a metaphor for life.

I discovered this gem of an art studio back in September 2022. Initially, I only popped into their Wednesday morning three-hour long session to paint a life model. Gradually, I started going on Saturdays and then slowly added Monday mornings, Tuesday evenings, and Thursday evenings to the schedule. In the act of painting, I’d discovered how much I wanted to paint and how Wednesdays alone were not enough. And as a result, I’ve become an almost daily cyclist!

The wonderful aspect about this cycle route is that it is long enough to feel like I’ve had a decent workout but not too long that I immediately feel like cycling is not an option (that happens when I see that the journey will take more than thirty minutes). However, the most annoying thing about this journey is the last leg, which is a very steep uphill cycle. 

When I first started cycling to the studio, there were many occasions when I’d have to get off my bike and walk that last leg because the steepness was too much for my body to handle. It is so steep that sometimes while I am struggling to pedal my bike uphill, a pedestrian will leisurely overtake me! 

Over the course of time I’ve spent cycling up this hill, I noted several parallels to life’s challenges. Firstly, my mental state on the day significantly affects whether I end up cycling up that hill or dismount and walk. Secondly, the quality of my sleep the night before and how tired I feel prior to the ride also affects it. 

I noted that as I approach the last leg of the cycle, when I look up and see the steepness of the hill, I’m immediately tempted to give up right there and then. However, I have learnt instead to look down at my feet, my front wheel and the road two to three meters ahead. I remind myself that I have successfully cycled up this hill several times before, I am the same person and can do this again. I concentrate on my feet and just pedal one foot then the other – simply putting one foot in front of another. I keep pedalling knowing that each one gets me one bit closer to the studio. Ultimately the accumulated incremental pedals will lead me to conquer the hill. 

This is really a lesson applicable in life.Oftentimes we look at the destination of a journey we want to embark upon. The Twitter account with many thousands of followers, or the artist painting next to me who’s nailed the tone and the image seems to come off the page in 3D, or I see the massage therapist with the established practice and think I will never get there. When I look at the hill and think I will never make it, this mindset leads me to quit even before trying. Whereas when I look at the hill, understand it to be my destination but keep my head down, pedal, focus  and trust that I will get there, I do end up getting there each time, conquering this hill time and again. 

Something to reflect on. What is something you feel like you shouldn’t even bother trying? What are ways to just focus on the next two or three steps rather than thinking about the destination that is a little far away? 

Yours in truth and earnestness, 

Caryn