Jane of all trades, master of none
LIKE MOST KIDS, I ONCE YEARNED TO BE great. I wanted to earn the best grade on the test and pitch the most no-hitters. I wanted to be faster than the tall kids and tougher than the small kids. I wanted to win the egg toss fair and square, and I had the yolk stained Keds to prove it.
The idolization of greatness is fully ingrained well before we scratch and sniff our first “Grape Job!” sticker in grade school. After all, it feels good to win. In a world where success is as nebulous as it is revered, winning something—anything—is the closest metric we have to demonstrable awesomeness. That shiny medal is proof we performed a little bit better than anyone else. It’s tangible evidence that we really did do a ‘grape job,’ and not only according to people who are genetically predisposed to think we’re better than we actually are.
These days, the truth is that I don’t have time to bother with being at the top of the pack. Slowly, my desire for grandeur slipped away under the cloak of darkness as blank calendar pages were covered with Sharpie-marker scrawlings of deadlines, appointments and annoyingly adult responsibilities.
Now, I strive for something bigger than greatness. I strive for mediocrity, and when I achieve the lofty designation of being ‘okayish’ at something, I pop up a camp chair on the 50-yard line between greatness and suckitude. That line is my home. It’s where I belong and it’s where I plan to stay.
I’m a middle-of-the-road home mechanic capable of fixing slightly more things than I break. As a rider, I’m on the leading edge of mediocrity and—not to brag—but last weekend I finally attained my lifelong goal of becoming fairly unimpressive at one-handed juggling.
この記事は Bike の September/October 2017 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
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この記事は Bike の September/October 2017 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
Starling Murmur 29 Stainless
Frame and Öhlins TTX Coil Shock | | £2,442 ($3,191)
WATERING HOLE
MAY 30, 2020 4:53 P.M. LAKE POWELL, UTAH
PROGRESSION PROVEN
SEPTEMBER 7,2019 5:48 P.M PRINEVILLE, OREGON
RE-FORMATION
KATIE HOLDEN’S CAREER REBIRTH COMES FULL CIRCLE
TURNS YOU EARN
APRIL 29, 2018 10:55 A.M. BORDERLINE TRAIL, POST CANYON HOOD RIVER, OREGON
CRAFTING A RESCUE
A LIFE-CHANGING DAY DEEP IN THE WOODS
PERMANENT INSTALLATION
SANTA CRUZ’S ICONIC CANVAS MOONLIGHTS AS A METAPHOR FOR A TRANSFORMING TOWN
EMPTY HANDED
A RETURN TO GLOVES THREE DECADES LATER
COTIC ROCKETMAX
FRAME AND CANE CREEK DB AIR SHOCK | £2,049 ($2,678)
BUTCHER PAPER
To all the newbs I’ve loved before Don’t ever change