Verve

One of my first ever climbing bottoms was branded Verve and I loved them - they were green, tailored for my bod, and comfortable; I snagged them from one of the early clothing swaps hosted at my place.  I still have them, but two babies later and a change in taste to cut off jeans, not to mention a little peri-menopausal action (and okay, there's rice, quesadillas, and nachos to factor in too), my first few pieces of Verve clothing wear are tucked safely away in a drawer with marked memories of places like Wild Iris, Sinks, Spearfish, Shelf Road, Red Rocks, American Fork, Maple Canyon, Devils Lake and my beloved Boulders Climbing Gym - all areas that carry strong memories of really fun climbing.

#fortherecord

Tomorrow I start my official teacher contract day and lately I've been thinking about teaching and verve.  Verve is that spirit and psych for life that makes its way into teaching- it's the enthusiasm you bring and foster because you just can't not be psyched!  It works the other way around too - when a teacher is just so psyched about teaching that it makes its way into their personal life because the two transform and enrich the other.  As much as I've basked in a premium summer filled with good quality days and relationships, it's time.  Time to make the 12 week re-charge go to work.

#verve

So here are my top ideas for promoting verve as a parent, educator, as a citizen and most definitely, in our kids.

1) Be fresh.  If you're not feeling it then for sure your kids aren't either or they're not maximizing it - yet. In the hip-hop world, being fresh is flipping something out of nothing.  Help your kids blend their instincts with ingenuity and create masterful stuff to get them psyched.  And while you're encouraging them, you may as well do it too - dust off that journal and make your next page a scrapbook of doodles, cut-out pics and quotes from magazines to help raise your verve meter.

2) Ask yourself, what is my new iteration as an educator, parent, student, athlete, friend and colleague? To quote Bettina Love, one of my all-time favorite and dopest hip hop scholars I've learned from to date, "Let the trends of the times be damned.  Ask yourself: How are you going to improve your greatness?  How are you going to promote and tell new stories, stories of yourself that will end up being a gift to others?"  To that piece of verve, I say, don't be shy or subdued or hesitant or locked-up.   Find new ways to represent yourself or uncover what you've been hiding and let it out - every role we play can inform and enhance who we are.

#takeyourgeniousoutofyourpocket

So get your verve on. To start, right now, make a realistic, attainable, fun goal that will be vital to your life, long or short term.  Mine is to climb with a focus for 4 days a week even though I'll be hammered, stressed, sleep-deprived, and lonely for summer, for the next 3 weeks.  Write down yours and tell someone about it!

#thatsmyverve #befresh #newiterationofself