Vacation comes to a close, and it was good change up from the daily routine. Day after day our group went on exciting adventures from feeding giraffes at the zoo to a murder mystery night. One of the best parts of this trip is the casual nature of how planning was handled. This got me thinking about the importance of flexibility when it comes to pursuing anything. There needs to be some wiggle room for exploration and variation, but it’s also important to provide some loose structure or path to give some degree of guidance.
The Open Road
Among our group, we had some people fly into Colorado, but I chose to stick it out with those driving all the way there. This was a great time, as we were able to pass through the little city of Dubuque where I used to live and meet up with a lot of friends.
Road trips are a good example of what I mean by a high level structure with some options within it. Knowing the route that needs to be driven provides the destination, thus is important to follow the proper roads. However, along that route, there will inevitably be stops at unexpected times. From gas fill-ups to meal time and bathroom breaks, there are a lot of interruptions along the way, not to mention road closures, accidents, and much more. Trying to plan out every step along the way would be a headache and not likely to bear any benefits.
The trip itself had this overall philosophy as well. We had a select handful of items we wanted to do, and came up with a rough plan of when we would do them. For example, a big plan for the tirp was to go skiing. Once we had a day picked, a majority of the planning was open ended. For a lot of us, it was the first time skiing, and we were unsure of how long we expected to go. The night before, we came up with a loose plan of when to arrive at the mountain and when we expected to leave.
Another example of this that worked extremely well, was a day trip for disc golf and a hike. Past experience led to the expectation that we could just show up at the course and play. However, we actually needed a reservation since it was a private course. Instead, we got a slot for later that day, hiked first, and then returned to throw some discs. In hindsight, it worked out better that we hiked first, as we were all pretty tired after 18 holes.
The Structure of Trials
Last year, I experimented with stopping the trial format upon which this blog began. The process of trying something out for a few weeks with the frequent result of dropping the habit or practice after the time period.
This repetition led me to move away from trials as a way to think about how I want to come up with posts going forward. The result was that I took a several month long hiatus without any intention.
Returning to this format has given me the direction and pressure to continue writing once again. At the beginning of this year, I wanted to start writing again and knew beginning trials again would be the quickest way to get back in the habit. However, I knew I needed something guiding what I decided to try, which ultimately brought me to the yearly theme.
As I was writing this post, I realized the yearly theme fits this ideology in a way. It provides a direction to follow while leaving some of the specifics up to interpretation and what a given scenario calls for.
With this brief departure over, trials continue with an old format, learning a new skill over the course of a few weeks. In this case, I will attempt to learn the harmonica, at least the basics. I don’t quite know what’s in store, but I’m hoping by the end I can play some simple songs.
Trying Out Before Buying In 