MOST EXCELLENT

my first association to the music above is that it reminds me quite a bit of what was playing in Bill and Ted's Excellent adventure, at the end, in the depiction of a utopian future where everyone is cool, enlightened and excellent to each-other. 

i recently took a mid-season hiatus, something rather against the grain of where my heart was, endurance training wise, but in tune with other things in my life that are much more important. it was hard to take a bit of time off, right after a disappointing race that capped off a six month stretch of very hard work, but c'est la vie. 

on my trip, i actually cut some weight and had time to appreciate the differences between excess and gluttony, and just came to apprehend,  in a more mindful way, all of the opportunities to move, to be strong, and mindful and to celebrate my body, that are encountered in the course of everyday life, in a medieval town in the south of france. 

medieval stairmaster

the reward at the end

it was on the airplane, coming home, however, that my mind was most, excellently blown. for the better, and forever. 

as my daughter slept on my lap, i watched the most spectacular documentary i have seen in a very long time. http://jasonbeckerguitar.com. 

"i am not dead yet" is the real life story of a man whose story i must have known, but forgot. it jarred my memory, and filled in details, and suddenly, jason becker is affirmed as one of my major heroes in life. 

i will try not to ruin too much for those who don't know his story and wish to discover it on their own. 

it tells so much and is about so much. for the purpose of this most banal of blogs, i will draw upon the aspects of endurance set forth in mr. becker's incredible story, as that is what i do on this site. 

jason becker's story has something to offer to every human soul on this planet. it is about: hard work, pushing limits, attainment, unfairness, loss, righteous indignation and freedom from all of that. it describes transcendence, perseverance, acceptance, the balance of letting go and keeping going...and so on. 

jason becker, is a pure manifestation of what i conceive of as the human animal as endurance animal. to work, to risk, to endure, to suffer, to accept, to rebound, to achieve what was thought impossible...these are all things that jason becker has done at a level that is truly most excellent, in the purest and broadest sense of these words. and he is a living miracle, in every sense of that phrase. 

i hope you follow the link above  to his site, i hope you watch "i am not dead yet" and i hope that you are moved, as i have been, by the most truly excellent story that is the miraculous life of jason becker. 

the train station to paradise