Resources Archives - Page 4 of 9

not just a single story

In my preliminary research on “my running story” (which was hurriedly done and involved googling “my running story” and clicking through only about 2 or 3 pages), I archived a short list of narratives by runners about their experiences racing, training and finding a passion for running. As I began reading through these stories yesterday, I was struck by the similarities between many of them:

They usually start, “I was never an athlete” or “I always hated running”.
They often focus on running times and include PRs (or PBs).
They frequently describe a setback or two, usually involving an injury, but end with a triumphant return to running or a readjustment of expectations.
And, they are all white women (except one white man).

This morning, I decided to do a little more research. Instead of focusing just on “my running story,” I searched for running and blogging. Quite quickly, I found Black Girls Run!

Here’s their mission and vision:

Mission: The mission of Black Girls RUN! is to encourage African-American women to make fitness and healthy living a priority.

Vision: We aspire to take a comprehensive and creative approach to improve the health statistics of women of color.

Black Girls Run!

Then I found an article about the Kwe Pack, a group of women runners who live on the Fond du Lac Indian Reservation: They Run: Kwe Pac, Fond du Lac Reservation, Minnesota. This brief article offers excerpts from Kwe Pack members and their experiences running, including:

I have been running for years. My foster parents put me in track when I was in the 7th grade and I ran until throughout high school. I returned to running in my twenties because I was losing a battle with severe depression and an eating disorder.

Even though I have been running for years before running with the Kwe Pack, I wouldn’t be the person or runner that I am without their support and friendship. I love this group and love that it is growing. I enjoy and own my position in this group as one of the most experienced runners and I provide the group with tips and information on fuel, hydration, gear, training, racing and weather.

Before running with this group I did 5k’s, half marathons (both road and trail). From the friendship and support of this group I completed my first marathon in 2012 and completed my first Ultra marathon 50k in October 2014. I have my most aggressive race schedule in 2015, which consists of Superior 25k, Ragnar-Chicago, Grandma’s Marathon, Gene Curnow Trail Marathon, Superior 50, Twin Cities Marathon and Wild Duluth 50K.

Janelle Zuech

Now, both of these stories center on groups of runners and not just individuals, so maybe I shouldn’t attempt to compare them to the “my running story” stories. But I want to put all these stories next to each other to see a wider range of ways in which runners express their passion for running. And I want to keep looking for more narratives about women running.

Telling the Truth

Just found this great cartoon by Dave Gessner via @CherylStrayed: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Truth in Nonfiction But Were Afraid to Ask: A Bad Advice Cartoon Essay (it’s from March, 2012)

The cartoon, which is thought-provoking and informative, is a response to a recent book (recent as of 2012) by John D’Agata and John Fingal, The Lifespan of a Fact. In his cartoon essay, Gessner reflects on the question,

Is it ever okay to not be entirely accurate/factual/truthful in creative non-fiction?

I don’t have time to write about or reflect on Gessner’s responses to this question right now, but I wanted to archive the source. Here’s his conclusion:

note: Before reading Gessner’s cartoon essay, I was not familiar with D’Agato’s/Fingal’s book. I’ve just requested it from my library and look forward to checking it out.

Running Voices

I’m starting to think about how to mark the occasion of my 4th anniversary of running. Realistically, I don’t have a lot of time to create a big project–of course that doesn’t stop me from dreaming too big about what I could do. At this point, I’m in the research/planning phase. Here’s a story project from the New York Times that I just discovered:

Running Voices

This project is from 2009. In it, different runners contribute their stories about training for and/or running marathons. The format is a voiceover recording combined with a series of photos that the user clicks through as they listen to the story.

Giving an Account with Selfies

Yesterday I mentioned that I was embarking on a new social media project with my daughter: Mo and Ro take a Ride. We’re still in the beginning stages—we’ve only done one ride, but we’ve already decided to snap selfies on each trip. Why selfies? It’s partly because I want to use Instagram more (okay, at all…my last pictures are from 2012). But, it’s also because snapping pictures of ourselves at the different locations could not only be fun, but enable us to mark the occasion of the ride and hold us accountable for our commitment to doing the project.

At some point, I’d like to write more about the idea of using instagram/selfies to be held accountable and to give an account. This concept is greatly inspired by my amazing friend KCF and her super-cool #reimaginefemme and self-care projects on Instagram.

For now, I want to mention another source that I recently found (thanks to STA/room34): Lost or Found. it’s hiker/designer/selfie-taker Andy Davidhazy’s film project about hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. Part of the project is a time-lapse video of the selfies that Davidhazy took at each of the 2,600 miles of the trail. I like his explanation for doing selfies:

Taking a photo of myself every mile wasn’t about vanity, but rather a way for me to fully commit to the whole hike. If I were to quit or skip ahead at any point, myself and everyone else would know it. Apart from that, I simply wanted to document my transformation in a memorable way.

Andy Davidhazy

Later on in his explanation, Davidhazy adds:

The process of stopping to take a picture every mile had a big impact on the actual experience of doing the hike. I had to be well-aware of where I was at all times, which was quite distracting in that it took me out of the moment and made it difficult to maintain good momentum.

Andy Davidhazy

In my own storytelling, especially in terms of marking occasions, I’m always thinking about how to create a balance between participating in the occasion and marking it. I want to experience the moment, not just document it. Using an iPhone and snapping quick shots for Instagram, does make it easier, but as Davidhazy found, it can still be distracting. Will it be distracting for me and Ro on our biking adventures? We’ll have to see.

Video Games and Empathy: Some Sources

Yesterday, I was curious about the relationship between interactivity and empathy. As I continue to be curious, I thought I’d post a few resources that I found about empathy and video games:

Pixels and Pathos: Video Games and Empathy

An academic presentation by Dr. Alf Seegert. Seegert argues that some recent video games, enable players to experience empathy, not just by inhabiting other’s worlds, but by participating in them (and as them?). I like Seegert’s conclusion:

I think the empathy-evoking potential of video games is summed up best by my student Jackson Myrick. When asked what differentiates video games from other media, he answered that it’s not the ability to inhabit multiple perspectives, “but to enact them—not only bear, but bear responsibility.”

Alf Seegert

I’d like to put this idea of not just bearing witness, but bearing responsibility, in conversation with Nina Freeman’s suggestion that her game is aimed at making players feel what she felt:

I’m not interested in making players feel like they are in the story. I’m interested in making players feel the way I felt in that moment.

Nina Freeman

In Gaming: A Shift from Enemies to Empathy

An NPR online article about a recent shift in video game development, from “mechanics to storytelling”. This article was mentioned in Seegert’s talk. In describing the shift towards emotional engagement with the characters and story in a game, the article discusses three games: Gone Home; Papers, please and That Dragon, Cancer.

That Dragon, Cancer

A video game by Ryan Green and team. Here is their game description:

That Dragon, Cancer is an adventure game that acts as a living painting; a poem; an interactive retelling of Ryan and Amy Green’s experience raising their son Joel, a 4-year-old currently fighting his third year of terminal cancer. Players relive memories, share heartache, and discover the overwhelming hope that can be found in the face of death.

Ryan Green, et al.