# How does Kayaking relate to your everyday life?



## Fallingup (Feb 27, 2010)

Hello fellow river chicas,


I was reading through a fellow paddler’s blog the other day and she was touching on how we incorporate paddling traits into our everyday lives. She is absolutely right.

My biggest similarity on how I live my life that reflects in my kayaking skills is actually detrimental to my paddling.

I am last minute type of girl. No solid plan in sight. Live for the moment, when that one’s gone, look for the next one. Constantly changing my mind, going with plan B when plan A is right there and will do just fine. 
So you can see that I am not looking down the river very far… I am setting up for the rapid in front of me with complete disregard for the rapid just downriver. Changing my mind from river right to river left when its too late, and so on and so on. 

This behavior has caused me many unnecessary swims and is sometimes holds me back from being a great kayaker. 

Anyone else have similarities either positive or negative between kayaking and everyday real life?


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## lmaciag (Oct 10, 2003)

Yin and yang...

Kayaking is actually the complement to my everyday life... conservative career choice, financial decisions (but for my gear habit), etc... there aren't very many CPA kayakers out there! The river is my escape. Watching the clock for the next departure now!


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## 10grtkids (May 17, 2009)

So the same as the first poster ... in fact, it's uncanny. I drive everyone crazy kayaking bc i'm only looking at the rapid i'm currently on with absolutely NO thought of what's coming and I do live my life EXACTLY the same. It's all about the ride, the fun, the here and now. Never ever thought of the similarities!! ;0


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## lmaciag (Oct 10, 2003)

I guess when I think about my approach to the river versus the sport in general, there are parallels. I do think about what is downstream. Perhaps too much. And that goes along with my everyday life behavior.

I know when I go back down the Grand this fall, Lava will be in my thoughts from Day 1! I sometimes let my anticipation get in the way of enjoying the moment. There is video from the Middle Fork last year when the new Tappan was changing daily. I was talking of my nerves as we left camp. Ended up being a straightforward move and a fun rapid, but stressed me out leading up to it.

The conservative approach can hold you back too! Kayaking is such a mental sport.


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## brenda (Aug 10, 2008)

What an interesting post!!! I thought about it as well and low and behold, I do the same on the river as in real life as well. I don't like surprises...so needless to say, I will always anitcipate the worst!! Names like "Widow maker" "Jaws" "Witches Cauldron" etc. make me anticipate the worst. Once I have done it I am pumped and want to do it over n' over again.
If I am ever lucky enough to discover my own river, I am going the name the drops "Fluffy Bunny Ears" "Puppy Dog Eyes" and things like that! LOL


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## Learch (Jul 12, 2010)

I look at the river in form of time. The water never stops flowing, it is unrelenting. Sure, we may eddy out, hide behind a rock, but the water never stops. It keeps going by you. 
Have you ever been in a serious, life and death situation in the water? Have you had to save yourself, or one of your closest buddies, when time is of the essence? Man, it is all about time in the water when you've been under for two minutes in a foot entrapment, or you haven't seen your buddy after his boat comes out of that sticky hole. 
It's all about time to me. The weekend gets over, and I am reminded not to "eddy out" too much in my day to day life, to stay with the current, look out for rocks and other obstructions in flow constantly. Maybe I shouldn't always take the easy line, or the blind drop. We all get 24 hours in a day, but we don't know how many 24's we have left.


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## Flying_Spaghetti_Monster (Jun 3, 2010)

Man that is deep.


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## hojo (Jun 26, 2008)

I tend to use Put-in in lieu of trailhead or parking lot for sports such as hiking, mtnbiking and skiing. You know, "meet you at the putin, er.. I mean trail head of Three Sisters." Not much of a life reflection really.... just a reminder of how much we'd like to be at a put-in rather than a trailhead sometimes.


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## TakemetotheRiver (Oct 4, 2007)

hojo said:


> I tend to use Put-in in lieu of trailhead or parking lot for sports such as hiking, mtnbiking and skiing. You know, "meet you at the putin, er.. I mean trail head of Three Sisters." Not much of a life reflection really.... just a reminder of how much we'd like to be at a put-in rather than a trailhead sometimes.


I even use put-in when referring to the place my carpool meets.  

I boat much the same way I lead my life. I look toward the future with anxiety, but once I get to the crux, I seem to know exactly which decision to make- they don't always go smoothly, but my anxiety goes away regardless. Until the next big one.

I seem to always be looking a mile downstream on the river or off. I've adopted the philosophy for my life that seems to have worked well in a raft- Life is all about how you handle plan B.


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## Fallingup (Feb 27, 2010)

Good stuff people!!!

"take me to the river" I am launching at cataract with you guys next week! Super excited to make that trip, it will be great to meet you too! 
woo-hooo!!!!


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## SimpleMan (Dec 17, 2009)

One of my favorite parts about the river is it provides me with abiding metaphors for daily life each time I'm floating. One of the biggest ones for me is to set up early and always be looking downstream. I hate being surprised by anything big or dangerous; this applies to the river as well as life. 

Another big one is 'don't get cocky, kid.' My life has shown me that the minute I think I'm dialed in, the rug gets yanked out from under. Same thing applies to the river. The minute I think I'm running well, Claire flips my boat two days in a row or I swim surfing a tiny wave on Bridges. 

Great post ladies. Have fun on the Cat.


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## gannon_w (Jun 27, 2006)

Funny I sent this to a non-yaker yesterday to try and explain what kayaking means to me. The first paragraph is R.W. Emmerson. The 3rd is my interpretation of how Emmerson's passage relates to us crazy kayakers! Well at least this crazy kayaker. You can't deny the somewhat masochistic relationship we all have with the river!
What we are, that only can we see. It shall answer the endless inquiry of the intellect, What is truth? and of the affections, What is good? by yielding itself passive to the educated Will. Then shall come to pass what my poet said; "Nature is not fixed but fluid. Spirit alters, moulds, makes it. The immobility or bruteness of nature, is the absence of spirit; to pure spirit, it is fluid, it is volatile, it is obedient. Every spirit builds itself a house; and beyond its house a world; and beyond its world, a heaven. Know then, that the world exists for you. For you is the phenomenon perfect. Build, therefore, your own world. So shall we come to look at the world with new eyes.
Reread the above and try to understand how by kayaking we transcend into nature! Seriously…really focus on our spirit. It will be difficult since you only yaked once though. Then you can read below!

Thus we as a human transcend and become within the definition of Nature! To obtain (transcend our pure spirit into Nature) pure spirit in kayaking is to tame the chaotic beast of Nature, which is our self! Realize that ourselves are not fixed but fluid. It takes a very unique mentality. A mentality in which you HAVE no choice but to challenge your mortality (i.e., your absence of spirit) to prove you have the right to live daily. What is truth and good of nature? We must accept the affections (be they positive or negative) of the river and yield ourselves passive to its educated will. Ask any kayaker…the river has a will and if you try to be more than a passive participant of its will then you will not last! Yet to the pure spirit the river is fluid and volatile yet based on our transcendence into, obedient! Trust me…you will never bond with some non-kayaker like you will with a paddling, or climbing partner.


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## teletumbler (Jun 2, 2005)

lmaciag said:


> Yin and yang...
> 
> Kayaking is actually the complement to my everyday life... conservative career choice, financial decisions (but for my gear habit), etc... there aren't very many CPA kayakers out there! The river is my escape. Watching the clock for the next departure now!


 
I am also a CPA kayaker, I fully agree about it being the yang to my career. Although, my attention to detail, and tendency to be a little OCD has let itself to trip planning quite well.

I love this sport for many reasons, but when I am on the water nothing else exists but what is between the shores and as far forward as I can see. The river like life never stops moving and you can never go back, all you have is where you are and where you can get to from here.


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## TakemetotheRiver (Oct 4, 2007)

Fallingup said:


> Good stuff people!!!
> 
> "take me to the river" I am launching at cataract with you guys next week! Super excited to make that trip, it will be great to meet you too!
> woo-hooo!!!!


 
Yee-haw! I'm excited too, especially to be going back to Cataract- it's been 5 years since I was there.
It'll be good to meet you... good times... who says boating season's over? SYOTR


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## lhowemt (Apr 5, 2007)

I am amazed by the fact that I can boat these same rivers over and over, and probably never encounter the same drop of water twice. The water cycle, it's amazing what it does for us.


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## li'l_a (Jun 7, 2009)

My life and boating are both influenced by the axiom “you can never step into the same river; for new waters are always flowing on to you” because of the complete and utter variability in how life works, no matter how similar things may appear on the surface, they're never quite the same.

Kayaking also helped push me into what I am presently studying in school, environmental engineering, because I've started worrying about the quality of the water that we dunk ourselves in when there are so many things being dumped into it from so many point and non-point sources.


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## Kendi (May 15, 2009)

Not a kayaker- but a rafter. Being on the river has made me focus on what's important in my life. 

For example, I have very catty, holier than thou neighbors. Red wine drinking snobs. Being on the river reminds me that the opinions of narrow minded individuals isn't something I should seek- rather to look at the big picture instead. Life can be one grand adventure- or it can be a dark tunnel where the only focus is trying to be "better than everyone else". 

The river reminds me of which route I should take.


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## briandburns (Jan 12, 2010)

Kendi said:


> For example, I have very catty, holier than thou neighbors. Red wine drinking snobs.


 
What's wrong with drinking wine (as long as it's from a box...)?


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## West Slope Or Die (Jan 27, 2010)

"going with plan B"
thank god


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## Kendi (May 15, 2009)

;-)


briandburns said:


> What's wrong with drinking wine (as long as it's from a box...)?


 Brian- you know I love your boxed red wine. Hells Bells- I'll even bring that instead of cookies next time if you want!


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