Becoming Human Wil Nelsen

In this episode of the Becoming Human podcast, I’m excited to introduce you to JP, a world traveler hailing from Switzerland and an avid skateboarder, surfer, and snowboarder. JP fell in love with surfing as a young adult and has been chasing waves ever since. After studying to become an Environmental Engineer, he found office life unsatisfying and began traveling the world in search of a state of mind.

Despite struggling with excess free time, JP eventually found a balance between work and play, ebbing and flowing between working and traveling. Along the way, he stumbled upon a DIY skateboarding community in France, where he met the people of wondersaroundtheworld.org. JP would later volunteer with Wonders Around The World as a project manager, culminating in his last project: building a skate park in Engabao, Ecuador. Tune in to hear JP's inspiring journey of finding purpose and balance in life.

In sports where tricks are a large part of the focus, I’m driven to learn why people are so motivated to learn challenging maneuvers. There are stages of learning in trick-based sports. There’s being able to efficiently navigate an obstacle, then there is being able to do more challenging maneuvers on an obstacle. This creates an endless cycle on the same obstacles, It makes obstacles infinitely challenging.

There are more people learning tricks for self-satisfaction than there are for competition. You can look at the numbers of competitors and skaters as an example. Why are some people so obsessed with learning tricks? Talking with JP was a look into a person who loves learning tricks on surfboards, skateboards, and snowboards. It’s deep in his marrow, he lives for it. I’ve come to realize that I love it too. This conversation was fun, informative, and made me long for travel.

Checkout @wondersaroundtheworldorg on social media and on their website: wondersaroundtheworld.org
Here’s a documentary about JP’s last project with Wonder’s Around The World in Engabao, Ecuador: WAW Ecuador Puerto Engabao
This episode features the song, “Seperation of Church and Skate” but NOFX

Fletcher Jordan is an adventurer who is passionate about Peakbagging. Peakbagging is where you set out to reach the summit of mountains and there are a ton of lists that people have made that call people to accomplish them. Beyond lists, people are captivated by the challenge and exposure of aiming for a peak.
Years ago Fletcher had caught the bug and he was chomping at the bit by spending an increasing amount of time out in the wilderness gaining lofty heights on varied terrain. On his third year of cataloged peakbagging, he had a 288% increase in peaks attained which sustained for the next 7 years before jumping again another 256%! When peakbagging, a lot of the time the route to the summit has no direct or defined trail. Along the way you have several obstacles that you have to figure out how to get around. To name a few you’ll have to navigate: raging or wimpy creeks, cliff bands, thick brush(slide alder is the prison bars of nature), glaciers, scree slopes(steep kitty-litter), ridgelines, gulleys, and snow fields. There are often GPS tracks from previous parties that can help navigate the terrain but that isn’t always reliable. It appears that a unique kind of fun and learning can be had when you try to navigate using your own judgment and while in the environment rather than relying on a predefined track to get you to your goal. There is a visual element to peak bagging precipitous peaks. When you’re ascending and descending your view of the ground and sky is dramatic. On the ascent all you see is ground, there is no horizon line. When descending you see almost entirely air. I believe that this is a profound yet subtle effect on our state of mind.
Fletcher has walked the path to specializing in a niche that he obviously loves dearly. In this episode, we dive into what that life is like and what draws him so intensely into these wild perches; atop the mountains. Fletcher has a youtube channel where he records his peakbagging adventures. I love that he uses subtle music, his transitions, and the fact that it’s mostly video.

Featured Song: INZO - Overthinker
Peakbagger: Fletcher Jordan
Climbing Videos: Fletcher Jordan - YouTube
Spider Mountain: Spider Mountain ~ June 25, 2022
Instagram: www.instagram.com/fletcher79/

Karl Hyder is a loving father who had struggled to make healthy choices for himself and his family. When Karl had found weight lifting, he found a pathway to self-improvement, discipline, and a love for the experience of physical exercise over consumption and entertainment.

Karl and I attended the same high school. We were all looking for our own way in life. We were working with challenging adversity and our personal flavor of self-defeat. We both didn’t thrive in the traditional school system. Since I last saw Karl in school, years ago, he’s become a father and stoked a passion for weight lifting that has enriched his ability and desire to bear responsibility, manage his feelings, and connect with his family; his community.

Weightlifting has shaped Karl as incidentally as the waves polish a rock. An experience forces you in a certain way. Every time the wave thrashes the rock, the rock can only do certain things. Every time you lift weights, there are constant and variable experiences that you encounter. Over time it might guide you somewhere else for better and for worse. It isn’t inevitable that these things will improve you, but it is possible; maybe even likely…

You can find Karl on Facebook and Instagram @drbigdee

Katie Hanke used to weigh 380 pounds, had 26 medical diagnoses, took 50 prescriptions, had chronic depression/anxiety and struggled with addictive eating, opoid, and alcohol use. Katie has a 1300 page medical file 20 years in the making. She has perservered and overcome her illnesses through self exploration, self-experimentation, consistency, and discipline.
Katie’s crux in rewinding her degeneration lie in her chosen habits and coping mechanisms. She had found using food/drugs/entertainment as coping mechanisms was driving her further and further down the path of degeneration and addiction.

In Katie’s youth, she lived in a small town and was an avid soccer player. She was given a scholarship to compete in college level soccer. Immersed in the potential of college life, she had plunged into the depths of the party lifestyle. Her commitment to soccer had waned but her attachment to entertainment and drug use expanded.
Katie was inspired to change when she hit her form of rock bottom: having to serve jail time for a car accident. After years of trial and error, Katie rose from her deluge of illness and found her path to wellness. While the jail time lit the fuse, she had her largest obstacle to climb as of yet; Katie had to find her own way. Katie is now a health & wellness coach, a personal trainer, and she coaches youth sports. Talk about a person coming full circle!
We’re constantly seeking “the way” but often we’re confronted with the need to find our own way. A helpful comparison is posture. Most people believe that sitting-up straight is “good posture.” People likely believe this because most people suffer with consequences from slouching all day. They’ll even label slouching as bad. The truth is that this posture is bad because it’s the only shape a person holds while sitting all day which causes deficiencies in posture. So what’s a good posture for you? Whatever is different from what you’re doing. Everyone does something in particular that is problematic. What’s a problem for one person is not always a problem for the other person.
Beyond all perspectives and opinion what is essential is that no matter what you do, doing something causes something. If you pay attention, you will perceive what happens.
Links
The Real Slim Katie On Youtube
Katiehankewellness.com
Alphafemalesnw

Saulius Braciulis is an ultrarunner, bike commuter, and mountaineer who has fallen in love with long-distance running/hiking. Saulius has accomplished incredible feats of endurance from biking 86 miles to Rainier, running around the volcano completely self-supported, and biking the remaining 86 miles back to his house in Seattle. Saulius has intense stories of exploring the Cascade mountain range in Washington state. If you were to go hike with Saulius, it’s likely that he’s either running/cycling to meet you at the trailhead or he’s already done several loops. All this to say that Saulius is not an egotistical man as far as I can tell. His abilities are a reflection of his interests and ultimately his lifestyle. Saulius is a reminder that we’re more capable than we can imagine. While it pains Saulius to be desk-bound, it frees him to be able to ramble terrain for hours at a time. Saul is a representation of the beautiful phsycos within all of us; those who ritually take on jaw-dropping circumstances of their own free will.

Checkout Saulius at @sbraciulis on Instagram and Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/Saulius-Bra%C4%8Diulis-Adventures-106303141310055/

https://hikingwithhadland.com/2021/08/28/mount-washington-ellinor-traverse-08-27-2021/

Featured Music
Forgive Me For My Synapsis - Eyedea, and Abilities
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William Stein is the Founder and CEO of Sage Math, a former Professor at the University of Washington, a Research Mathmetician, a Vert Skateboarder for decades, the co-founder of Seattle Vert Ramp, and he’s Bella’s companion: a dog that’s a heeler with a love for outdoor travel.

In this episode, we talk about what it’s like to splitboard, backpack, and mountaineer with a dog. William shares his tips, tactics, and drive for adventuring with his dog, Bella. We talk about the relationship of Mountaineering, Mathematics, and Vert Skateboarding to our quality of life. William is nearly twice my age with a mountain more of experience. Getting to hear his perspective as a dog owner, adventurer, risk mitigator, mathematician and animal has deepened my understanding of such broad topics. William has extensive recreational skills that led to some interesting stories.

You can find out more about William’s work in mathematics at cocalc.com and sagemath.org.
To learn more about the Seattle Vert Ramp and other vert ramps around the world go to vertramp.org. You can follow along with William’s adventures on wstein.org.

Thrasher recently released a documentary about Mark Hubbard, the deceased founder of Grindline: A skatepark building company. Check it out on youtube.