4 - Fighting & Feeling

Blade against blade, each fighter feeling for an opening, who will give in first?

When I'm in a bind, giving in can mean getting hit. It's about maintaining pressure while moving into a more advantageous position, preferably one of the defensive guards. The only way to tell which guard to use is by feeling the pressure on your blade. And the real trick is to do it instinctively.

I only have a moment to feel before I continue fighting. But I can't fight without feeling something first. I have to feel.

I fight in so many areas of my life. I fight for my career, fight with my body, and fight within my own thoughts. And not necessarily violently, sometimes it's progressive conflict. I feel strongly about my career, my body, and my thoughts. To me, they're worth fighting for.

In the fight, maintaining pressure is the first step. However, while maintaining that pressure, it's critical to move defensively. Protection is critical during conflict. And if I didn't feel anything, I wouldn't know how to protect myself.

Feeling is often seen as a weakness. There's the idea that to win, we must be relentless, cut-throat, and impervious. And true, that is one way to win, but it's not how I win. I win fights by feeling.

So I sit in my feels. I memorize the moments and the feelings because this fight isn't over. There will be more fights in the future, and I want my sword to protect me instinctively.

Feeling isn't always weakness. Feeling is power, it's information, it's vital.

Fighting isn't always violent. Fighting is progress, it's growth, it's a foundation.

Protection is always necessary.

Longswords & Lullabies is my new blog. I'm still feeling it out. I'm still fighting fear, algorithms, and an ever-growing to-do list. But this blog gives me a good feeling, so I'll keep fighting for it. Thanks for fighting with me.