Practicing more piano doesn’t make me a perfect pianist, but it makes me a better human being. It makes me more patient with my own learning and myself. It teaches me that I can experience deep joy simply by doing. Ultrarunning is similar. I’m not good at it. I’m not an elite runner. I’m always at the back, and sometimes I’m last. I don’t always make every cutoff, and sometimes I have to be pulled from the course. I’m slower than most power-hikers. People loop me on the course, but aside from some fleeting disappointment, I still want to be out there, in nature. There is still a beauty about
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