Sorry if my blog reads a bit vacant today, but that's on account of my vacant brain being too foggy with a cold to think. Dang it. I thought I'd dodged the crud-bullet, but apparently not. I hate being sick. I just started a new workout program last week and I'm eager to get back to it, but I'm feeling weak as a kitten.
I joined a new gym because they have a good boxing program. Yeah, boxing. I've always loved cardio kickboxing and have tried for the past 2 1/2 years to find a decent class, but all the classes I found in Bend suck, or they only have them once a week. I've tried spinning (boring), body sculpting (boring), yoga (boring), step aerobics (fun but it's a rare class to find here), and there's nothing quite like putting on a fat pair of boxing gloves and hitting something really, really hard.
Okay, so I've learned something new about myself that's a little disturbing. I get a rush from punching things. It feels damn good to release all that pent-up tension that builds and builds throughout the week. Now, I don't like to hit people, but I have to say there's a certain satisfaction in punching the pads the instructor holds for us. He's just a kid, no more than 18, but he's a good instructor. He kick boxes professionally so he's teaching the real thing, not just shadow boxing, which is what I'm used to. He puts us through our paces, too, and sometimes you kind of wish he'd just hold that pad a bit farther away from his face so that you could get a good shot at his chin!
The point of my rambling is that no matter how hold we are, we can still be surprised by what we learn about ourselves. It's kind of a eureka moment. I'm not an overly aggressive or violent person, but put some gloves on me and look out! I've learned I need to release my stress physically and boxing helps me do that. It makes sense.
Have you learned anything surprising about yourself? Do you ever practice this mode of self-discovery on your characters? Do you find it cathartic to learn something new about them as they learn it themselves?
7 comments:
Well, after all my comments on my blog on Monday about my flawless hero - A side of him came out that shocked me! He has a violent streak. One he keeps very well masked!
As for myself - I'm surprising myself everyday with how far I'll put myself out there for my books.
Karen--
Good for you. Cool!
Yeah, I discover stuff about my characters as I write. Be pretty dull if we didn't though this can serve as a reminder to let some of their buried traits shine.
I find that to be a problem in R/S. There's usually so much plot and a threat hanging over everyone--makes it hard for the characters to really get to know the little things about each other that form the actual basis of a loving relationship. That's why I usually stick on an epilogue. HEA after five days of being chased and shot at doesn't ring true...
Alice
and I hope your cold is better soon.
Karen~ Sorry you're sick. That sucks. Have your DH get you some hot chicken soup and some vitamin C and get well. And AWESOME! You're taking boxing like that, too cool! You're very brave to put on those gloves and let loose on that poor kid. LOL I'd be worried that I'd punch too much like a wimpy girl and embarrass myself.
I've not learned anything surprising or otherwise about myself. I'm just the same ol' boring girl I've always been. LOL Oh, I know what I've learned... I really like having my toenails professionally painted. Yeah, that surprised me a lot. I've never been one to spend any time or money on vanity things like that, but here I am loving pedicures. In fact, I'm due to get another one anytime. :)
Okay, so, hmm... Practicing this mode of self-discovery on my characters - good question. Yeah, I supposed this would happen if I'd ever get that far on a single story. I'm a sucky writer at this point but with all the support and ideas I've been getting from you girls lately my characters are going to explode with self-discovery! Woo HOO!
Fun blog Karen! Keep up those elbows and good luck with that left hook!
Paty, that's great! And I mean that about both discovering your hero's violent streak and putting yourself out there for your books!
That's so true, Alice. When you have an action-oriented book, the character stuff has to sort of weave itself in with the shootouts and car chases. But that's still a really fun way to learn the nuts and bolts about a character.
Piper, I love pedicures, too. I never thought I would, but the best part is the foot massage. Ooooh. There are pressure points on the bottoms of our feet that affect other areas of the body and a foot massage can be really beneficial to overall health.
The boxing is a terrific workout, and the time goes by super fast. Talk about breaking into a sweat! This gym is very casual, not like most fitness clubs, so I never feel self-conscious. Though they supply the gloves, I bought my own pair because their's are so stinky! Yuk! That's probably how I caught my cold.
The first time I heard a marimba band I was surprised to find myself just loving it and unable to keep from dancing to it. Jim reacted the same way, and ever after when we want to express excitement and joy we say, MARIMBA! It's great to find a way to express ourselves with our bodies and love it. I hold a lot of tension in my shoulders, and I bet boxing gets all that tension out. Congratulations on finding the right exercise class for you, Karen! I'm looking forward to finding hidden traits in my WIP characters. Like us, they should find themselves doing surprising things under the stress of conflict and learning new things about themselves through the doing. I'm surprised every time I find myself writing fiction -- who me? Who would have guessed?
Ewwww... I never thought about that Karen. How gross! It hurts my brain to think about using someone's sweaty gloves so I'm really glad to hear you bought your own. I'm all a shudder with gross chills and feel like I should go take a shower after reading about those stinky gloves. YUCK.
Thanks to Barb I now have to go find out what a marimba band is. LOL
Karen,
Sorry about the crud.
Boxing sounds fun. I've punched at a bag a couple times, but it would be fun to do it as real exercise.
My characters do sometimes surprise me, or themselves. I surprise myself sometimes too. If I really put my mind to something, I can do it. My mom taught me that. Thanks, Mom.
Yay, Paty, way to go on putting yourself out there. You are the marketing queen. And I remember the olden days when you were sort of happy in your little shell. Ha! Look at you now.
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