High Gear
Everyone seems to be migrating here to Bend, tis the season I guess, and all we can think about is how to get back to our rambling roots. A year and a half ago Paul wrote a New Year edition of our plans to reestablish the priorities and vivacity we started out with in 2017 as we left Bend through a haze of smoke in a self-built home on wheels. As part of our movement to redefine what Dirty Good Co. is and our long term goals, we’ve been assessing what’s going on in our business, relationship, and personal mental and physical states now versus the last chapter. Fundamentally our priorities remain the same, but are we living them? We don’t want history to repeat itself, but is it time to try another journey?
Admittedly it feels selfish to be dissatisfied with our own undeniably blessed life amidst the pandemic and violence the world is experiencing now. Our commitment to living good and authentic lives remains the same: live true to yourself; work hard for what you value; express your feelings; build and maintain community; allow yourself to be happier. We can’t run away from trying to be part of the solution to pervasive fear and injustice, but we can run toward more experiences, share what we learn; and maybe open some eyes to life outside our immediate bubbles.
In 2018 Paul wrote that “neither of us has any desire to go back to concrete walls and daily commutes to unfulfilling jobs that leave us with little energy to pursue our true loves: mountains, waves, books, travel, and writing.” Well, I am grateful to have spent winter in a really, pretty great apartment – with a heater and oven and everything – and that I found a really, pretty great job without cubicles where I’m surrounded by delicious food and admirable co-workers. I can run or bike commute if I choose and there are trails just a few steps from our front door. We are giving this our best shot. The question remains, is it true to ourselves? Are we using our strengths and expressing our best selves? More than ever I personally don’t feel like I fit in anywhere these days.
Something has to change and rather than “doubling down” for the next phase, it’s time to shift into the highest gear and spin our butts off to get out of this current canyon. Dirty Good Co. is branding itself as a community of outsiders, mixed-terrain athletes and adventurers, offering motivation and accountability to better ourselves and live our best, authentic lives. This comes from moving in nature, sharing our experiences with the community, fueling our bodies with appropriate food and our minds with multifarious content, stepping outside our boundaries, and choosing only the essentials needed to accomplish these things. And maybe a good, cold IPA after a hot, dirty, pleasantly exhausting day on the trail.
— Susan
