Flying Through Adventures

Towards the end of 2018, in December, I decided to read the Harry Potter Series. And by read, I mean I essentially finished a book either within 24 Hours, 48 Hours or within a week. This then lead to me  completing the entire series - 7 books - in 1 Month. When I finished the series, I felt that I went too fast and could have enjoyed the characters more if I read slower. Something I realized when I finish a book/series is that I tend to read just to see how it all ends and neglect (not on purpose) minor details, and sub-plots, all to see how the main plot plays out. 

This often leads to me being upset that I didn't ~enjoy my time~ with the characters; when I read really fast through a series I sometimes forget what happened in Book 1 when I'm on Book 5. Did I read Book 1 before I got to Book 5? Well, uh yes obviously! But I think the reason why it would be hard for me to remember key details of what happened in Book 1 is because I just read it at surface level to gather the information I needed to understand the next book in the series.

Through my flying through fictional adventures (and occasionally non-fictional adventures), I began to wonder if I applied this sort of main-plot-is-the-only-thing-that's-important mindset elsewhere in my life. Similar to me ~inhaling~ a novel within 24 hours, I noticed that I applied it just about everywhere in my life. From wanting things career wise to have happened yesterday, my speed on the track to be faster hours ago, and to wanting this blanket I've been crocheting to have been completed last month.

All of things I mentioned above - career moves, speed, crochet -  take time. You can't just wake up one morning and suddenly have a nice looking salary, stronger arms, legs and core to get you to cross that finish line faster, and a finished winter blanket. There are steps for each of them that lead you to where you intend to go.

In terms of having the mindset of only focusing on the main plot - for example, I'd love for my career in tech to go in the direction I want it to be in, but by only focussing on a job in tech as the main plot, I lose the minor details that are also part of my tech journey. There's the small triumphs along the way- doing freelance work, educating myself on a programming topic I wasn't so strong on before, learning a new programming language etc. Not everything happens linearly, but through this lovely rollercoaster of my tech life I've realized that those subplots, actually strengthen the person you are aiming to be in the main plot.

ya girl is freezing in this photo & attempting to avoid eye contact with people who were watching me with my tripod which was hard because uh the direction I am turned here to my phone was also the general area where people were so I was facing them as I was taking this photo  - how i kept cheesing is a mystery 

In terms of my running life there are days where I wish I was faster but by focussing on my speed only in the 5K distance, I am missing out on these subplot running adventures: Running faster + covering more distance doing the No Time? Go Time! speed workout on the Nike Training App, conquering a hill that I've been sprinting up for 3 months and finally getting more greens than reds*, survived a few Fartlek runs (me and Fartlek have some tea, but I'll conquer it soon) etc. Through this running adventure, I've realized the subplots - the small victories - are puzzle pieces and once they connect, they lead to the faster runner I will become. 

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* 

green - means I went faster than my previous repetition of running up the hill

red - means I went slower than my previous repetiiton of running up the hill

example:

Some imaginary times here of pacing for sprinting up a hill: 5:45 6:20 3:20 7:20 6:20 5:18

Of those times, there are three occasions where I went faster than my previous sprint and two occasions where I went slower than my previous sprint - does this make sense?

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wow so serious - this book was about hymnology. i can confirm this book is not upside down.

Those subplots contribute to the main plot and by skimming right by them - in terms of reading hi we're back to discussing fictional adventures welcome back - you miss out on what lead to the main plot being the main plot. 

We all want things to happen instantly, as if we can click our shoes together and everything we've ever wanted will happen - unless Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz wants to give us her lucky red shoes, we're going to have to take it one subplot at a time to reach our main plot. 

Think of it as a ladder. The steps on the ladder? Those are your sub-plots. The top of the ladder i.e your destination? That's your main plot.

My advice would be to pay attention to those subplots and learn from them - they are essentially the building blocks to reach your main plot. You can't have one step of the ladder loosely screwed, right? Celebrate your small victories en route to your main plot, see why you didn't do so well at XYZ and learn from it,  and enjoy the journey that is your life one subplot at a time.

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