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Can we thrive with mediocrity in our canoe lives?

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I think it is very important to have reasonable expectations. For example, my little basketball player wants to be in the Olympics. I always tell her it is enough to be good at basketball and have a team to play on.

However, the is a catch with paddling - you should be able conduct yourself safely. A paddler with poor technic and conditioning is at a higher risk for injury. A paddler who doesn't know the hazards is a risk to themselves and others. A paddler who can't help with rescues isn't helpful to the group.

Plus it's just more fun if you don't swim all the time.
 
I strived for perfection in my job, but sure not so in my canoeing, hiking, and backpacking. Just a duffer and happy to be that. Just the talk of improving paddling strokes, more speed anywhere, or not sticking with my idiosyncracies rubs me the wrong way.
 
That depends. I have been paddling since 1961. Any activity that I have stayed with that long is usually because there has been some success and accomplishment. I always have used scratched up equipment, but it is of high quality. I strive to improve technique with a paddle and making canoes safely navigate rapids. Good judgment comes from experience. m Having the right companions makes a big difference.

When I was younger I was more aggressive about which rivers to run and how far to go. Now I am older and slower but have decent skills and really good judgement. It is hard for me to understand people that pursue life long sports without putting some level of effort into improving their skills.
 
I thought she was talking about me. I’m not afraid to try new things when it comes to my canoe life, I get great pleasure from every hour of canoe work, be it actual canoes, sewing up a tent, building a wanigan or even working on some old axes.
But you’ll never see my work on the lawn at Paul Smiths.

Case in point, I was contacted by a fellow from another forum I belong to, he is a known axe collector/ restorer. He started asking me questions about my axes, how did I do this, what wedge, what kind of edge did I plan on… and I had no good answers. Clearly, he was a perfectionist and I’m just some old guy trying to get thru another winter.

That article made me feel good about myself, Thank You.
 
If I couldn't thrive with mediocrity, I wouldn't be involved in much of what I enjoy. I will always strive to do my best in whatever I take on but I know I'll never be an expert. I used to laugh when people at school would introduce me as the college's "outdoor expert." I would chuckle and tell them I might be an expert in making a PBJ sandwich or taking a nap but that would be about it.

That's all for now. Take care and until next time...be well.

snapper
 
To each his own. I know guys that wouldn't get underway with a scratch in the varnish. None of my boats are perfect, nor my techniques. But they do get used.
 
I can agree and disagree with the article.

While I certainly don't need (or ever attain) perfection in the things I do I am not content to remain stagnant. I like learning new things and I like seeing myself progress. I think this is why I cycle through so many hobbies. I'm not willing to put in the truly hard work it takes to reach the top but I'm not willing to remain stagnant either. I enjoy being on the steep end of the learning curve.

Alan
 
I like the distinction the author makes between work/professional expertise and hobbies/pleasure activities. Allowing oneself to "aspire to mediocrity" in hobbies__pardon the oxymoron __could be incredibly liberating. After all, shouldn't the joy be in the "doing"? Not in the pleasing of metaphorical mommies and daddies who are compelled to remind us that if yer gonna do somethin' do it right, etc. How discouraging it must be to pursue an activity, but to live and die by the number of "likes" generated by the serious folks: respected teachers, tradespeople, experts, well, you know... the big fellas. We make a religion out of high performance and exceptional practice. Art, science, and athletics owe much of their achievements to a culture of intensely driven__perhaps neurotic__over-achievers. Nonetheless, and I don't think it's a contradiction that I believe we owe recognition and thanks to those who perform brilliantly for us, inspire us, and innovate in ways that benefit us, often at an extreme personal cost. Unfortunately, we amateurs often let fear of negative judgement or dismissal keep us from engaging in an activity. So who said you gotta be good at it? How about you just gotta enjoy it? All the while remaining humble, though. Because if not, one runs a considerable risk of becoming yet another tiresome mansplainer, or worse, deluded into believing in one's own excellence. Most of us are duffers just having some fun, and that's probably a healthy thing. Thanks for sharing the article, Odyssey.
 
Bouncing back and forth between G.K. Chesterton and Lord Chesterfield is enough to make the head spin. So is it worth doing well or badly!? Their musings and adages are noteworthy but they're not that far apart in their truisms, not really. Psychologists and influencers tripping on misquotes and misappropriations make for interesting reading, and might be helpful, but IDK. Is there some middle ground between striving for improvement and finding peace in things just as they are??
I grew up feeling the pressure of doing things well. It took having kids and dealing with their adolescent anguish for me to have a rethink regarding success and failure and how we are judged by others and how we come to judge ourselves.
Growing up I used to explore all kinds of goofy kid stuff fun with one particular friend. You know the kind of good clean fun, swimming in creeks, clambering through hay barns, cross country bicycle rides, playing pond hockey. One slow day in summer completely run out of ideas and energy we wandered through our village and into the back pasture behind the school, where we saw his mom sitting on a stool with a canvas propped up on an artist's easel. I'd never seen a mom doing such a thing. My world was small, but about to get bigger. She thoughtfully showed us what she was working on, like it was a fun and breezy thing for her to be doing. I don't remember much about the painting except it was full of colour, looked unrestrained and without rules. Not finger painting and definitely not paint by numbers. She was deciding what the trees looked like and she was choosing what colour the clouds should be. And I'll never forget how this usually busy serious house mom looked that day, relaxed, happy, and smiling. What confused me was, unlike my mom and others like her, she looked like she truly belonged right there, sitting in the sun, dabbing bright gobs of artist's oils on a canvas full of promise.
 
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There is always going to be someone better at something than you are. I enjoy those people, if they aren't strident loudmouths, and I'll take from them whatever I can use, which is usually not much, because they exist on another level of skill that I will never get to. In the end though, I'm happy just being me, warts and all, and I like being around other warty people too, who can laugh at a fart while quaffing non-hippy beer, with the occasional dart thrown it.
 
As we age in some aspects of canoeing paddling gets harder
At least I am on the water and not in a home eating Sysco pap and drooling and sharing a room with a fellow waiting to die.
No privacy
Due to balance issues I am in the double blade sit on the bottom camp
I used to teach canoeing
My friend in the nursing home was my instructor trainer in canoeing
As Forrest Gump said
That's all I got to say about that
 
As we age in some aspects of canoeing paddling gets harder
At least I am on the water and not in a home eating Sysco pap and drooling and sharing a room with a fellow waiting to die.
No privacy
Due to balance issues I am in the double blade sit on the bottom camp
I used to teach canoeing
My friend in the nursing home was my instructor trainer in canoeing
As Forrest Gump said
That's all I got to say about that
I'm much the same, I taught paddling and outdoor skills for years until a back injury sidelined me and left me with balance and strength issues in my legs, people look at me now and think that I'm sloppy and untrained, but at least I'm still getting out there and doing what I love at a level I can maintain....
 
...people look at me now and think that I'm sloppy and untrained,
Trick to that might be to hang out more with sloppy, untrained canoe heathens so they don't know any better. I could care less what stroke you use (I don't even care which I use) as long as the boat goes where it's supposed to go (or reasonably close). I value function over form and results over procedure so perhaps I'm thriving in mediocrity but I'm thriving.

I still haven't reached "Bill & Ted level" but I've had some excellent adventures.
 
Must we strive for perfection or can we simply enjoy imperfect pleasure?
Can you accept a blem paddle, love a scratched hull, or enjoy a trip gone amiss?
I don't think we need to strive for perfection (in whatever aspect that involves) while canoeing unless it has become your profession, or you teach or coach, or you race or perform competitively, or you just want to be good at it. Otherwise (with safety considerations a given), who cares how we look, how fast or far we go, how efficient we are?

I'm not perfect, and certainly no expert, but I enjoy paddling efficiently, gliding along with minimal effort, mile after mile. I enjoy going as fast as I can in a canoe, feeling the thrill of speed and watching the shoreline fly by. I enjoy the satisfaction of running a dry line through whitewater rapids or comfortably maneuvering a canoe around obstacles in a stream or swamp. On the other hand, I also enjoy lazily paddling along, without a destination or deadline, focused not on my paddling, but on the world around me. These two perspectives don't have to be mutually exclusive, but to be efficient, fast, and skillful, you have to put the time in, to pay attention to the details. I like learning how to paddle a canoe; it's a pleasure not a chore. All depends on how you approach it.

As for perfect canoes and paddles, I take good care of my boats and gear but I don't baby them. I've purchased blemished paddles and canoes and think they look beautiful, in spite of the flaws. The scratches and dings on the bottoms of my Kevlar skin coat canoes tell a tale and remind me of good times on the water.
 
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I am not talking about competition with other people. Become a competent paddler because then you can be safe. Then you can aspire to improve. You can teach other people. You can lead trips. You can enjoy a lifelong pursuit. It has nothing to do with perfection.

If you are going to select for some new people to hang out with, find some with more skill than you have so you can get better.
 
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