I picked up archery as a new hobby a few months ago and I’ve been consuming a lot of archery related information online. YouTube, podcasts, blogs, there is a ton of wonderful information available for free, what a time to be alive.
One of the podcasts I listen to frequently is the Bowjunky podcast by Greg Poole, and Greg frequently says something that makes me chuckle. Used in a variety of situations Greg will caution his listeners against “faking the funk”
All alliteration aside, faking the funk is a fantastic description of the majority of social media posts and fits in with the overall theme of the last few Serenity through Sweat posts. This week we have talked about measuring metrics and data, logging and posting those items for others to see, and now to bring it full circle, based on the content you put out, are you faking the funk?
This concept of faking the funk is something I’ve been aware of and have danced the line of since highschool. My nickname on the wrestling team in highschool was Woody, as a tribute to woody harrelson’s character in “white men can’t jump”. I would show up to tournaments in tye dye pajama pants and a ratty worn down hoody and look like a chump. This was a style all my own and I could back up my questionable fashion choices with my performance on the mat.
In college I continued the trend in my ultimate frisbee days playing on a team clad in Speedos. The message was always don’t take yourself too serious, but be able to back up your bravado. This tradition has continued to be passed down to the team through the alumni group and the message is consistent.
A lot of those same alumni from the speedo teams ventured into the triathlon community, another area rife with people taking themselves too serious and faking the funk. So we’ve come together to form the TriGoodBeer triathlon team and the BadAssRaceFans (BARF) cheering and morale section. This group is composed of some serious athletes with some incredible athletic achievements, but all of whom can have fun with themselves in the moment.
It’s easy to get wrapped around the axle tracking training metrics, logging workouts, and sharing to social media, especially if you have some sort of incentive to do so. It’s easy to start putting out a persona and eventually faking the funk.
That being said, you can’t fake a marathon. You have to put one foot in front of the other until all 26.2 are done. You can’t fake an archery scoring round, you shoot all your arrows and hold yourself accountable for where they land. When you show up to train, only you know whether you trained or whether you sat on the sidelines.
Wrapping up this three post series, measure what you want, and post what you want, but you can’t fake your way to serenity, and you can’t fake good old fashioned hard work and sweat. If you are true to yourself and don’t take yourself too serious, serenity is probably already one step closer.
Thanks for joining me and stay sweaty my friends.