The Importance of Reflection

I left early this morning so I could start my work day at a coffee shop in the small town about 20 miles down the road. I park the bike on the gravel when I see one of our neighbors walking his dog, and we get caught up on the latest. His dog, it seems, took himself on his own 'ride' yesterday while his wife was busy transplanting garden asparagus. Ten hours later, an exhausted ghost of a dog showed up again on his doorstep, and this morning, she certainly seems all smiles and tail wags, no worse for the adventure.

As I say goodbye and fire the bike back up, the back tire spits gravel and spins out a bit as I rapidly accelerate onto the asphalt highway towards town, hoping to avoid forcing any traffic to slow down if they should round the curve and, surprise, find me entering the blind intersection. Up to speed, my attention immediately shifts to concern about deer. Multiple bikers have been killed on this very road in motorcycle-vs-deer accidents. I've studied these accidents and learned as much as I can from what I could gather from the media reports, but I'm still very acutely aware of the increased danger this particular backwoods-twisty-road-plus-forest-full-of-deer combination represents.

Quite contrary to what a lot of people who read these words may believe... it's not the 'thrill of danger' that keeps me riding here, it's a solemn respect for it, as well as a feeling of privilege that I am able to do what I chose do, ride where I want, despite this objective risk.

Of course, it's hard to think about any of that in the middle of the tire-screeching braking that happens when deer have (and continue to) run in front of my bike. It's only afterwards, upon quiet reflection like this, that it all makes sense again.

So I write this blog for myself, mostly.

One of my daughters may occasionally read something I write (usually because I send them a link), but mostly, this blog is for me to reflect and write about things in a way that I understand, and maybe only me. And that's ok.

My 'ride', whatever the vehicle, is expression in motion. It translates thought and presence into a linear trail (literally one of time and position), whether those miles are covered horizontally on a bike or flying a plane, or vertically on a skydive or climb. Any ride is, at least in part, a way of getting things out. And in doing so, it also becomes a life journal of sorts.

And then comes reflection.

I cannot imagine living life without sitting back and reflecting on what I learned along the way. Whatever your form of expression may be, look back on how that played itself out, and reflect on what you left behind, what it meant to you, each second of the way. Only then can your next ride be as good or better than the one that came before it. Each will always be different from the one before, but it'll also always then be better in some important way.

That is hard-won advice, if ever I had any to give.