Episode 13: The Connection

[00:00:01] Speaker A: Before we start the episode, we have an exciting announcement. The gather is hitting the road and we'll be doing some live shows from the dadvale regatta on May 8th and 9th. More details will be forthcoming, but we will have guest interviews, trivia and all the excitement that being at a regatta provides. If you happen to be going to Dadvale, we hope you will stop by our tent and say hi. Now on with the podcast. [00:00:32] Speaker B: In rowing, you'll hear the word connection quite a bit. It's a little difficult to define, it's harder to coach, and it's even harder to execute. Even though this is something we talk about all the time in rowing, it's actually not on the terminology list on US Rowing's website, which is surprising because it's such a critical aspect of rowing. So what do we mean when we talk about connection from a technical perspective? What this means is that your body is effectively the thing connecting the foot plate all the way to the blade of the oar on the water, allowing your power to generate movement. Think about your house. If you didn't have a power line connecting your electric panel to the transmission line outside, you wouldn't be able to turn on the lights in the boat. You are the power line. There are only two points that remain stationary in the the foot plate and the pin on the oarlock and you are the thing that completes the circuit and creates the power for movement. If you break your arms early, you're creating an interruption in that flow resistance in the power line as it were. If you press your legs before the oar is completely in the water, or turn the power on with a loose connection, you might short the circuit. Connection really means to use that body sequence we talked about in the last episode to create a clear and efficient flow of energy from your feet on the foot plate all the way through your hands and down the oar to the blade itself. It's not just a one way connection either. Connection means you're taking the ready message from the oar in the water all the way back down to your feet on the foot plate. The best way to describe that feeling is you'll feel the oar lock into the water and in that splittest of split seconds of feeling it lock in with your hands, the message goes to your brain. Your brain then confirms it's in time with what your eyes and body are feeling from your stroke seat and the other rowers and your brain then relays that message down to your feet that it's go time to power down again, completing the circuit I think this quote from Richard Bode captured it well. He said, and so in time, the rowboat and I became one in the same, like the archer and his bow or the artist and his paint. What I learned wasn't mastery over the elements, it was mastery over myself, which is what conquest is ultimately about. In rowing, as in life, there's a powerful humility that you can achieve only once you've fully mastered yourself. Knowing how to stay fully connected to who you truly are. To ignore the influence of the world, creating noise and obstacles outside of your control. To be able to find a self awareness that allows you to stay deeply connected to your grounding and translate that inner power directly to your purpose. That is how you create a fierce resilience and indomitable inner strength to walk your highest path. [00:03:01] Speaker C: Welcome back. I'm Alicia Cushman and this is the Gather. We are gathered in the living room today and we kind of have a fun intro. I think just before we started chatting here, we all went down on the erg. And since our topic is the connection today, we thought it would be really cool to kind of start out with us feeling connection to the foot plate on the erg. And so all of us went down and got on the erg so that we could feel connection on the foot plate. And so I'm really curious to hear what you guys thought about trying to focus in on that connection on the foot plate. [00:03:28] Speaker A: I feel like it's important to put on the record that Alicia tried to video all of us doing this and we nixed it. We decided. So all of the people out there who are hoping for some video version of this, it does not exist. [00:03:42] Speaker D: Well, you know, I thought it was interesting because I never thought of it before. [00:03:46] Speaker E: Yes. [00:03:46] Speaker D: And I couldn't find it until I closed my eyes. Like, I definitely needed to feel it by closing my eyes and really paying attention to like that push in the beginning. And it's something I never really thought of before. Yeah, honestly. [00:03:59] Speaker C: And when you were doing it, we had the monitor up and we learned from you doing it that we should probably put the monitor down because it's really easy to focus on the monitor. [00:04:06] Speaker D: Right. [00:04:06] Speaker C: That's why I think it helped. Close your eyes. [00:04:08] Speaker E: Yeah, yeah, it was really interesting. I'd never thought about pushing on the foot plate before I knew about the sequence. And I've always focused on the leg drive to start or. But I always thought about that more like moving my body away from the foot plate versus like pushing my feet into the foot plate. And so that was really eye opening and really, really interesting. And I'm gonna spend more time, like, focusing on that when I get on the erg, just because it was really, really interesting to focus on that. [00:04:34] Speaker A: So having the heels hit and then feel the rest of the engagement. I will admit I struggled feeling that for a little while. And I'm not actually sure why, but it was once I sort of felt like, oh, I'm gonna slam my heel in and then start feeling the rest of it go. I actually can't quite figure out what I started the movement with before my heel went in because it just makes so much sense that that would be the case. But whatever. [00:04:57] Speaker C: Well, you think about it. You know the answer because we were talking about it. [00:05:00] Speaker A: Well, okay. [00:05:01] Speaker C: Do you know? [00:05:02] Speaker A: No. [00:05:02] Speaker C: It was your back, because you were feeling it in your back. [00:05:05] Speaker A: I was hunched over. [00:05:06] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:05:07] Speaker E: Well, it's a common hunch humor. [00:05:09] Speaker D: You spent. [00:05:10] Speaker C: I do it. I mean, you weren't. That's what I do. That's my. So that is totally normal. [00:05:14] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:05:15] Speaker C: That's my issue is I. I, like, curl my back and I start with my back. [00:05:18] Speaker A: So it's keeping the back straight and a little, like 5 degree of hinge. [00:05:22] Speaker E: Yeah. [00:05:23] Speaker A: In your waist. [00:05:24] Speaker E: Yeah. So I talked to my son about this, who doesn't row now, but used to, and he said it's about being the board versus the banana in terms of the shape and the strength of your back if you want to keep the connection. I thought that was really helpful to think about, like the bananas, your back curving and kind of taking on too much of that energy. I guess when you want to keep your back more rigid so that it kind of can transfer that energy from the legs up to your arms. Right? [00:05:48] Speaker C: Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Yeah. On the erg, we can really only focus on part of that connection because we don't have the oars in our hands. Right. And so really you're just focused in on the body and leg portion of the connection and sort of. We talk about it like it's the simple thing. It is so impossible to get perfect. And that's why I think growing is so beautiful, because there's always something that you can address and correct. You're never going to get it perfect. Right. I've rode millions and millions of meters on an erg, and I still roll my back and start. Like, I still bend my back when I shouldn't, and I still start with my back when I shouldn't. Right. Like, it's very easy to break any part of that body chain and Then. And therefore break the connection. Right. You bend your arms a little bit and you're breaking the connection. You bend your back a little bit and you break the connection. You. You open a little early and you break the connection. There's so many. That's why it's so hard. Like you're connecting your. Who that is the connection from your OR to the foot plate and the thing that makes it move. So any little break in that connection causes that sort of resistance to the power. So it's really easy. [00:06:53] Speaker D: And we're talking about an erg, and [00:06:55] Speaker C: we're talking about an or. Yeah. [00:06:57] Speaker D: And water. Then making sure that you're putting that blade in the water to get that very first bit of power when you push away from that. And I'm talking out of my, you know, I don't know because I'm not a on the water rower. [00:07:10] Speaker E: You have been, though. [00:07:11] Speaker D: I have been. But, you know, I. In my novice rowing experiences, I never even thought about connection. I mean, it was. I only did it for a short period of time. And just imagine if you're on the water, making sure that your blade is catching at the right time to grab that power from your feet, because that's where that, the end connection is, you know, that's where that energy is going to. So it's incredibly complicated and I think it takes a very mature rower to be able to do it right a lot of the time and a very aware rower to be able to start putting those connections together. I mean, it's on top of everything else they're doing in a boat to really get that connection right. [00:07:52] Speaker E: Yeah. I think it's so interesting. It goes back to some things we've talked about before, about how simple rowing can look to the outside world. It looks so repetitive and it is, it is a repetitive action. But just think about all the little micro adjustments and all the little things you have to do correctly every single time. It's really complicated. [00:08:10] Speaker C: Yeah. And to be able to focus and feel it in those microseconds. [00:08:14] Speaker E: Yeah. And adjust. [00:08:15] Speaker C: And adjust. So the concept of getting your oar in the water before you drive with your feet, if it takes you a second to figure that out, it's way too long. [00:08:24] Speaker D: Right, right. [00:08:24] Speaker E: The boat's left you at that point. [00:08:26] Speaker C: Yeah. You've missed it. And it's really, really hard to see those things in anyone else and in yourself. It's not just hard for a rower to do it, it's hard for a coach to see. See it. [00:08:35] Speaker D: Yeah. Well. And then just Imagine you have eight people in the boat. [00:08:39] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:08:39] Speaker D: And you have the stroke seat setting that. And so the stroke has to make sure that their oar is in the water before their power is leaving their feet. And then all seven of the rest of them have to match that almost in that second. But obviously the brain. And we talked about the brain, but how fast the brain works in terms of reaction. So you almost. It has to become just part of your form in a way. Yeah. In knowing how to. How to put those two things together. [00:09:07] Speaker B: Right. [00:09:07] Speaker C: I thought it was so funny when I was trying to define connection in the introduction, that it's not clearly defined anywhere. And we talk a lot about, like, in the introduction, I really focused on your body connection to the oar and to the foot plate and that being the connection. But to your point, you're also connected to everybody else in the boat. And you get into this almost when. When you get it right, you get into the Zen flow state where it's like, oh, you just feel like, oh, all of the circuits are close and there's this just energy transferring between your oar and your foot plate, but also the other rowers in the boat. And it's this beautiful moment. And I think I've maybe had one stroke in my entire four years of rowing that has felt that way, like that. That super flow state is. So to get that perfect connection with eight people in a boat together at the same time. [00:09:55] Speaker A: When Kath and I would watch the races, we would say, okay, well, that boat looks good. That boat looks good. [00:10:00] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:10:00] Speaker A: They all look, to the untrained eye, like us, like they were doing the same thing. Like. [00:10:05] Speaker E: Yeah. [00:10:06] Speaker A: Oh, good. I mean, you knew when it didn't work right. You know, when there was an ore off or someone, you know, I mean, you could see that. But in general, most of the boats look like all the oars seem to be going at the same rate and they are doing their thing. And you think, oh, well, this is. I have no way to know why is this boat going faster than that boat or this thing. But that. That notion of all that stuff, that each person is making that connection between the. I can't get the image out of my head of the foot plate and the. The Orlok being the only two things that are sort of stationary and all this stuff in the middle is. But then the efficiency that is required in order to transfer that pushing to the water. And so. And you don't see it. I mean, I just. I think that's interesting. It explains so much of what the. The connection explains all of that sense. Russell said it, you know, I mean, he kind of had that way of helping us visualize that connection or transfer of energy. So like you said, it looks so simple. Looks like everything's cruising. But then why is one going faster? Well, yeah, they're. They've got that connection, right. [00:11:07] Speaker D: And you think about it, if the blade doesn't go into the water until after they've already started their catch, then you're losing that energy. So a boat might have all the blades going into the water at the same time, but at the wrong time. So they'll go slower than a boat that have all the blades going into the water at the right time. Right. You know, based on that connection, they'll go faster. Yeah, because they'll be transferring more of that energy. So it might look good, but it doesn't. It doesn't transfer that energy in the same way. [00:11:36] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. You think about one of those guys I've been talking about, like, because my boys are heavyweight rowers, like these guys who pull these big heavy watts on the Erg. If their or isn't in the water, when they put their power down right away, how many watts are they losing in that, like 10 degrees that it takes for them to actually get their ore in the water. They've put the power down, they've generated the effort, but it's not translating it into boat movement in that whatever, 10, 20 degrees. I hope it's not 20, [00:12:05] Speaker D: but multiply [00:12:06] Speaker C: that times between eight and you can really lose a lot of speed in the boat. Why? By not having that early connection and that quick connection at the D1 level [00:12:17] Speaker E: or any elite rowing level, like, those few watts probably make the difference between winning and losing, I would imagine. Like, probably doesn't take a lot to actually really impact your outcome, but I [00:12:27] Speaker C: cannot stress how hard it is to feel in the boat like it is so hard to do. I have heard someone. I'm going to brag on Mira for a second. I have heard someone comment on how Mira has quick connections. [00:12:39] Speaker E: What does that mean, quick connections? [00:12:41] Speaker C: So it basically means that there's not a lot of difference between when her is in the water versus when she puts her power down. And she also doesn't delay. Right. Because there's also a. Because when you. You drop the oar in the water, if you're doing it right, you're checking the boat a little bit, like you're slowing it down. Because you're like your oars in the water. So the boat's Moving the other direction. [00:12:59] Speaker B: Right. [00:13:00] Speaker C: And so what Mira does is she gets her ore in the water and it's like, immediately putting the power down. Right. So I think that's also a quick connection. It's how fast you, like, balance the or being all the way in the water. And when you start your drive, it's not just about, like, the angle, but [00:13:14] Speaker D: also it's kind of like a clutch on a car. [00:13:17] Speaker C: It's like the clutch on the car [00:13:18] Speaker D: making sure that, you know, you're not riding the clutch to get yourself into gear. [00:13:22] Speaker E: Right, yeah, that makes sense. [00:13:24] Speaker C: Yeah. And so a lot of people will do what they call rowing into the catch. And so, like, you actually don't feel the oar lock in and you're not checking the boat. So you've. You've, like, put the power down in your legs and then you sort of drop the or in as you're going down. And so you don't feel the oar check the boat because it's not. You're actually, like, rowing the ore into the water. [00:13:43] Speaker E: Okay. So you're sort of putting it in. Moving. [00:13:45] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:13:46] Speaker E: Okay. [00:13:46] Speaker C: Like, you're already. The boat's already moving because you've already put the power down. So you're basically, like, rowing back into the water when you've already started your drive. [00:13:53] Speaker E: That's interesting. [00:13:54] Speaker C: They call that rowing into the catch. This is a very sort of hard concept. Right. [00:14:00] Speaker E: This is advanced rowing. It's definitely advanced. [00:14:03] Speaker A: I'm trying to keep up. [00:14:04] Speaker C: Yeah, exactly. [00:14:08] Speaker A: I mean, there were. There was a whole lot in what you just said. Like, there's. There was boat checking. I mean, there was all kinds of stuff. [00:14:15] Speaker C: Keep us honest. Checking the boat start there. [00:14:18] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:14:19] Speaker C: Okay. Checking the boat is basically, you're putting the brakes on the boat. You're stopping the boat. [00:14:23] Speaker A: Okay, so when. All right, so one of the things that I noticed when the boat's cruising down and is the poor little cox is sitting there and you just see the cox's head go, like, back and forth. And I thought, this must feel terrible. I mean, it just cannot be a comfortable feeling. But it's. But I guess I always thought it was that the boat starts to, like, when there's no. When they're recovering, that the boat's slowing down a little or it's. Yeah, I mean, it doesn't have a drive happening, so it's slowing down. And so when the power hits, that's when the cox gets kind of thrown back. Just. There's a natural, like, cycle to when the power is being Applied. But you're saying that there's a moment when the oars are going in before the drive starts. That because the oars there, it's kind of along for the ride for a minute. And you're actually not pushing the boat forward, but you're actually slowing. You're creating a certain amount of drag on the boat. [00:15:15] Speaker C: That's right. Yeah. [00:15:16] Speaker D: And the faster you can connect the power from your foot plate to your blade in the water, the less you're gonna get that check. [00:15:24] Speaker A: That's the check. [00:15:25] Speaker D: And that's where you'll gain your speed. The faster you can transition that power into the blade. [00:15:32] Speaker A: Makes sense. [00:15:32] Speaker E: Speaking of, from experience with catching crabs, like, if you don't start your drive, you drop your OR in, and you don't start your drive quickly. That's where you can catch a crab. Because you've checked the boat, it's so easy for the water just to stop the ore and get, like. You have to really be ready to go. So, you know, it's happened to me quite a few times. [00:15:51] Speaker C: Yeah. And that when you see cox is really, like, bouncing. Yeah. With, like, a woodpecker. Yeah. [00:15:59] Speaker A: Right. [00:15:59] Speaker C: Yeah. That's not actually a good sign. [00:16:02] Speaker A: Okay. [00:16:03] Speaker C: Yeah. Because the. The boats that do it well, you'll see like, this probably where we might get into a little trouble, because we've never been. None of us have ever been in an elite boat. So I don't know what it's like in a men's heavyweight boat because there's a lot of watts. [00:16:15] Speaker A: We might have to interview some people. [00:16:16] Speaker C: Yeah, we might want to interview them. But I know when. When I have a good row, it's a very smooth row for the cocks. And we know something is off when they're feeling like a woodpecker, because there's either check or rush. Like, there's something. You're fighting against each other in the boat. Like, you feel it in the boat. So that's one of those signals as a stroke seat where I'm, like. I'm feeling a lot of check. Are you feeling a lot of check? [00:16:38] Speaker E: Yeah. [00:16:39] Speaker C: And the cox will, like, adjust when they feel that. So that's usually one of those indicators that something's off. [00:16:44] Speaker E: Right. [00:16:44] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:16:45] Speaker A: Okay. [00:16:46] Speaker C: So we. I think we talked a little bit about, in the introduction, connection and grounding in life, too. And so, like, I'm really curious. Like, I was just talking about. There's an indicator in life where you're not grounded. But I don't. You don't always catch that. [00:17:00] Speaker D: Right. [00:17:00] Speaker C: Like, it's not always easy to see. It's easy to see when a Cox is like a woodpecker. But it's not necessarily easy in life to identify, like, hey, I'm not grounded right now. Like, how do you identify when you're not connected to your grounding in life? I think for me, it's just like exhaustion. I just get really exhausted. [00:17:15] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:17:15] Speaker C: And I feel like I'm just floating. [00:17:16] Speaker E: Yeah. So what do you do to get grounded then? [00:17:19] Speaker C: So for me, I find my grounding. I'm a very big introvert. And so I don't know. I don't know that I have answers to this. I was thinking about this when I was writing the introduction. On the outside, maybe it seems like I have my purpose and I'm really grounded, but I don't think I always am. Right. I think it's really easy to get lost. Like, just like in rowing. In life, there's 8 billion things that can go wrong with your connection to whatever grounds you. Right. [00:17:43] Speaker E: Yeah. [00:17:43] Speaker C: And nobody has that perfect. And life intervenes. And so I think for me, I struggle to identify when I'm not grounded, but once I know it, I know for sure that if I go out and isolate myself somewhere in nature, I'm going to be able to get mental clarity. And it's not necessarily nature that gives me the clarity. It's just that it gives me the space to have the clarity that I need to just like, re. Get regrounded. So for me, I think it's more of, like, I struggle more to identify it. Once I identify it, I know what I need to do. [00:18:13] Speaker E: I think that introversion and extroversions come up a few times in our podcast. And I find that very interesting because people often talk about that in terms of how much. How social you are. And it's not about how social you are because I'm an introvert also, or at least used to be more of an introvert. And it's really about where you get your energy. So that's bringing it back to connection. Let's. How. How do you get energy? How do you hold onto your energy? How do you restore your energy? And that's, you know, relating to the idea of connection, like using your energy the most efficiently. And so I think understanding yourself and understanding, like, when you need a break from being around people or when you do need to be around people, that can be very important. It's good exercise to really recognize where you fall on that scale and honoring that when needed. And it's funny because My husband and I were just in the car together the other day, and I was like, yeah, I want to have some people over soon. And he's like, what happened to my introverted wife? And I was like. Because when we met, I was so much more, like, less social than I am now. And that's just. You know, lots of things have changed over the years, but I still consider myself an introvert because I still need to be by myself to recharge those batteries. So it's. I think I'm with you on that. That. Whether that's in nature or reading a book or something, like, I need to go back into myself and get that energy back. [00:19:27] Speaker C: Right. I wonder. I'm going to philosophize for a second because I thought about this about myself, too. So where I get my energy from is isolation, because it gives me the mental clarity to, like, ground what matters to me, what's important to me. But I'm an introvert who actually loves people. Right. And the reason I get so exhausted is because I dive into people. Like, I just am so curious about their lives and their success, and I'm their biggest cheerleader, and I want them to be the best version of themselves, which is very draining energetically. And so that's why I get so drained. Right. And so it's not that I don't love people, it's that I love people so much. That's why I need to disconnect. [00:20:04] Speaker E: Yeah. [00:20:04] Speaker C: And so part of my purpose is around people and, like, watching them succeed and watching them be successful. So my purpose is around people, but my grounding is isolation. [00:20:14] Speaker E: Yeah. Isn't that. [00:20:16] Speaker C: It's a weird complex. [00:20:17] Speaker E: Well, no, it makes total sense to me. [00:20:19] Speaker C: Yeah. I was one. I was curious if it was similar for you. [00:20:21] Speaker E: Yeah. I love being around people. People and especially people that are nourishing, as you all are, you know, So I get a lot of energy from that. I think I'm an ambivert now, which is a word that means you're sort of in the middle, you know, between being an introvert and extrovert. I need to recharge by myself, but then I also need to get around my friends and feed off some of their stuff. And, you know, I think that's really exciting, too. [00:20:43] Speaker C: Yeah. How do you. Ed, how do you find your, like, what grounds you? [00:20:46] Speaker A: As you guys were talking, I was thinking of Frankel's man's search for meaning. Oh, right. This sense that what part? We're always interested or we always want to have meaning in our lives. And we need to figure out how the activities that we do or the things that we are spending our time on contribute to some sort of purpose, meaning, you know, connected to something deeper. And I think in some ways that's where I would say I feel ungrounded at times, is when I can't figure out how what I'm doing has a bigger meaning than just going through the motions. And so what am I contributing to? Or how do you. You know, how. How does this fit into some narrative that I want to be proud of? And that whole book is really about. I mean, it's. It's about the Holocaust, but it's. It's this. How do you get out? Or how do you find meaning in the worst things? And how that. And people who find an ability to identify their circumstances and their actions in terms of a broader meaning actually can be more successful, can be better off. Yeah, so I guess some of it's that. It's. It's figuring out, you know, as careers go through changes or. I mean, I think the thing that I'm trying to figure out now is, you know, as. As kids grow up and are out of the house, like, the relationship to them changes. And so, like, what is your meaning, both to yourself, but, like, what is your role now? Like, how do you. How do you define the relationship that you have to change that relationship to adults now? Adult children. [00:22:16] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:22:17] Speaker A: And create meaning out of. So those are. I guess that's a bunch of random stuff I've been thinking about. [00:22:23] Speaker C: But no, I think it makes sense. And I think it's really unfortunate that we define purpose as something this. That's like this big thing that's going to change the world. Right. Like, we all expect ourselves to have this big purpose in the universe. Right. But in reality, we're just one human being. And our purpose could be just so much more simple. Like Mother Teresa once said, you can do no great things, only small things, with great love. And I think that really is important to remember, like, your purpose. How do you get comfortable with the fact that it's okay to just exist as you are and to take purpose in every sort of moment, that you have to make something slightly better or slightly happier for yourself or your family. Like, your purpose doesn't. I don't believe that. And I struggle with this, of course, but it's okay to just exist. Like, your purpose can just be. To be the best version of yourself and just exist. And as I get older, I find that more of a struggle. Like, I've achieved Success in my career. My kids are grown up. It is okay to have a purpose, to just be happy today and to just enjoy life today, because that's all we have. All we have is today. You don't know. You're not granted tomorrow. And so how do you get comfortable with being at our age where our kids are out of the house, where it's just. My purpose today is to have a great conversation with you guys, and it's so fulfilling and so happy, and that's an awesome purpose to have today. It doesn't have to be this, like, I'm changing the universe. I'm gonna go, like, explore Jupiter or something, right? It's okay to just have a simple purpose, and that's phenomenal. [00:23:54] Speaker D: And I. [00:23:55] Speaker E: The way I think about it is that it's okay to have a small sphere of influence. So I think when we think about having a grand purpose in life, like you said, is that somehow we equate this. Maybe it's because of a celebrity culture or whatever that we need to have grand achievements, and that's impossible. You know, I've talked a lot about being a writing professor on our podcast, and I have writing students who want to be the next famous writer and write the next great American book, you know, And I want that, too, of course. Who wouldn't? But it's not likely to happen. Our spheres of influence tend to be smaller than the average celebrity. And that's okay. I'm okay with that, too. And so when you say, like, oh, we're having conversation among friends, like, all the good things we say to each other, like, all the positive words we say to each other, like, that has an influence on all four of us. Like, we all feel better at the end of the day because we've spent time together and made these connections, you know? So I feel like that's enough. Like, I really feel like it's enough to have a smaller sphere of influence that's just your family or just your community or just your best friends or whatever, you know, and if everybody thought about having a positive sphere of influence, that kind of is a lot of bubbles that ends up to. Maybe that does change the world. [00:25:03] Speaker A: But I always need to think a little bit because, I mean, what brought us together was that we all volunteered to be on the board. Right. In order to contribute to a broader community. And. And we intentionally wanted to adopt, you know, goals of. Of making rowing more inclusive. [00:25:22] Speaker E: Yes. [00:25:22] Speaker A: To be. I mean, for me, I need that kind of stuff. Like, the purpose, like you. The podcast, you know, we were trying to make in some ways something that is foreign to a lot of people. It's not the sport that you see on Sunday, you know, afternoon, or you grow up seeing all the time whenever you watch sports, you know, obviously, and, and the, and to try to make that somewhat accessible, something that people can see. So that this sport, which made a huge difference in our lives, both because of the connections that helped us make, the contributions we made to our community, to the changes it made in our kids lives, the community that it built for them, the lessons that we've learned from it, like it's passing that stuff on. And I think that's where I get meaning out of a lot of this. [00:26:08] Speaker E: For sure. I agree. [00:26:10] Speaker C: Just like we've talked about structure, everybody's going to have a different way to approach their purpose and grounding. Right. And so for you, that, meaning that matters, that broader connection matters. Right. And I think for me, for the longest time it did. And I think just recently I've realized, like, I really like the small moments. Like I've become obsessed with sunrise. [00:26:31] Speaker E: Yeah, I love that. [00:26:32] Speaker C: My poor, the poor people who are like, I don't know how many sunrise pictures you guys have gotten. I'm pretty sure I've sent a few, but my closest friends are like all of a sudden getting a million sunrise pictures because it just makes me so happy to see the sunrise. And I think it's part of the loss. Like, I know we're not gifted every day and so I'm coming to, I'm just coming to this place where it's like, I want my purpose to be in the small moments now in a way that I have never had before. And that's a big transition for me. And I have fear around my kids because Derek's gonna get to a place where he's not gonna be able to be the intense rower that he is. And I almost want to be prepared to help him through that transition. [00:27:10] Speaker D: Right. [00:27:10] Speaker C: Like the what after rowing? And I'm really curious. We're, you know, hopefully going to have an Olympian rower come and interview with us. And I think that's one of the questions I have for him. What do you do post Olympics? Like, how do you reset your life when you have such big lofty things happening? How do you reset? And so I think it's all really fascinating and I think to our earlier points about structure, it's probably that really different for everybody. [00:27:35] Speaker A: Yeah. What you were just saying reminds me of Annie Dillard, who is, you know, and she has this whole you know, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek and where it's just going and observing things and the ability to spend pages describing the most minute thing that you could see. But that seeing is what's so essential to finding satisfaction and meaning. In a lot of ways, I need to strive much more towards that. [00:28:00] Speaker D: You know, it's interesting. So my brother passed away in 2021, and Richard Brookheiser wrote a piece about my brother. And it touched me and all of the people who knew my brother because he said, you know, my brother had a way of looking at a piece of spalted maple and seeing what was in it. And. And then that's what he did. He saw the beauty in all of the things around him and wanted to share it by translating it through his eyes and his vision as an artist and a crafter. And it kind of speaks to all of the things that you're talking about is how do you take those small moments and make them beautiful for you or make them beautiful for others? You know, it's something I miss about him. He'd send me a picture of, you know, the fawn on the side of the road when he was driving through the countryside. And, you know, it's one of the things that I think I've got to become better at because I'm so distracted with work. I mean, it's all consuming in what I do right now. And I've been very consumed with my daughters, as you all were with your children. And so I am too, in this transition of what does not just grounding, but like, it's also purpose and direction mean in this new space in life. And I am frequently reminded of my brother because he would send those little beautiful moments in life to share with the people that he loved. [00:29:20] Speaker C: So I think it's incredible that we have somehow turned an or getting into the water into deep meanings on life. [00:29:28] Speaker E: That is rowing. [00:29:29] Speaker C: That is the epitome of our podcast [00:29:31] Speaker E: and of the world of rowing. [00:29:32] Speaker C: I think that's awesome, but I think it's time for some fun, I think. Ed, do you have trivia today? [00:29:37] Speaker A: Oh, I do have trivia, but so I got to figure out how I'm going to ask this question. All right, so I'll make it complicated. We'll see what happens. All right, so there's a kind of memory called semantic memory. [00:29:51] Speaker D: Okay. [00:29:52] Speaker A: All right, I'm going to define it. Semantic memory is a type of long term explicit memory focused on general world knowledge, facts, concepts, and language independent of personal experience. I know you're all looking at Me. Like I'm saying, so. Semantic memory. There is a game that focuses on semantic memory that was created or it launched in June 2023. Whoa. It's a game. [00:30:19] Speaker D: 2023. [00:30:20] Speaker A: Yeah. Board game by Wina Lou. [00:30:23] Speaker C: A board game. [00:30:23] Speaker A: Some of you. No. [00:30:25] Speaker E: Oh. [00:30:25] Speaker A: Some of you might play this. I think I know some regularity. [00:30:29] Speaker E: I played it. I think. I think you're talking about the game Connections. [00:30:32] Speaker A: I am. [00:30:33] Speaker E: Ah. The New York Times game. [00:30:35] Speaker A: I brought it right back to the word wow. [00:30:37] Speaker E: Yeah. So I didn't really. [00:30:40] Speaker A: Yeah. 23. But the idea is that it's sort of these. It's the word associations. [00:30:45] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:30:46] Speaker A: That are based on semantic memory. [00:30:49] Speaker C: I don't play this game. What is this game? [00:30:51] Speaker E: You want to describe it? [00:30:52] Speaker A: So there's 16 words that you are given every day. And those words can be broken into four or grouped into four categories. And there's some connection between these four words. But to say that it's not always obvious is an understatement. [00:31:07] Speaker D: Yes, it is not. And they trick you by making some of them look like they're obvious. And when they're too obvious obvious, you know that that's the right answer. [00:31:15] Speaker C: Exactly. So you have 16 words, and there's four. Are the four categories connected? [00:31:18] Speaker D: Or is it just the four words in each category? [00:31:20] Speaker A: Each category separate and you get four. [00:31:22] Speaker E: Four mistakes. Well, three mistakes, and then on the fourth mistake, you're done. Like you're. You lose, basically. [00:31:27] Speaker A: And they reveal the puzzle and they go from easy. The allegedly easiest category is yellow, and the hardest category is purple. I just search for trivia questions about connection. [00:31:37] Speaker E: That's a really good one. [00:31:38] Speaker C: And I can't believe the word connections didn't immediately trigger for us. It's that topic, like how. [00:31:46] Speaker A: That's why I had to make it such a weird, obscure thing, because if I said it was a putt, it would get there. [00:31:52] Speaker C: It was a great question. [00:31:53] Speaker E: Great question. [00:31:53] Speaker C: Yeah. So thanks for joining, everybody. [00:31:55] Speaker A: Yeah. We'll see you on the other side of the splash.