Miscellaneous
In our last episode of 2020, we look for the light of hope just around the next bend, amidst great suffering & a year of global reckoning with the pandemic… none of us are immune and we all need an outlet. This has given the outdoor/trail and distance running community a unique perspective, if not a bitter-sweet boost. Today, Meghan and Mark discuss the theme of “emerging light from darkness” (winter solstice) across cultural traditions from around the globe, and throughout history, in the first half of the episode. In the second half we interview Fr./Brother Anthony Aarons, a former Franciscan and dedicated distance runner, who hails from Jamaica and applies his unique insight to his job as a chaplain. At the Running Anthropologist project and in our 2020 recap specifically, we try to take a reflective look at the cultures and peoples representing the diversity of our human experience, and then hone in on running and what these practices mean to us. Many of us have faced ourselves with a more sobering clarity in 2020, forced to slow down and look deeply at all our practices, often isolated from a community of support- we’ve learned much and have much to learn! Forming a tiny fraction of this communal knowledge, we share our favorite (audio)books, apps, and races of 2020. Here are the “Top of 2020” from Running Anthropologist by category: Audio Book- Sacred Economics by Charles Eisenstein; Print Book- Still “Epic Runs of the World” by Lonely Planet, Ap- Insight Timer (world’s largest & free meditation app- search “Lane Holbert” under teachers to find a few of ours produced this year); Races: X-country Marathon, Half Marathon and Ultra in Alafia, Florida, the Publix Atalanta Marathon and the Princess Challenge weekend at Disney (Meghan). Links to all these can be found on our website, we received no sponsorship or advertising credit for anything, just things we liked and we relied upon in 2020. ————— As always, please share this episode with others if you find it inspiring & subscribe or leave a review for us from wherever you are listening! Our blogsite is www.runninganthropologist.com and we can also be found @runninganthropologist on Facebook and Instagram!