Bravey: Chasing Dreams, Befriending Pain, and Other Big Ideas

by Alexi Pappas

Somehow we manage to find each other. To connect and actually become the new normal: broken but not defeated, and glued back together again and again and again. I think this is such a clear testament to the human spirit. We have an endless capacity to grow and surprise ourselves, and it is amazing what we can accomplish, from little things we never thought we could do on upward.

And guess what? You tried and you didn’t die. And life goes on.

My earliest memory of running was in the first grade when a boy in my class made fun of my best friend, and I not only chased him down but caught him and stabbed him with a pencil to make sure he knew I wasn’t fucking around.

What I now understand is that a successful person can be successful in anything, the good and the bad. This is both empowering and heartbreaking.

It was a contest of me versus my own pain tolerance. This is why I love to run. Because it is a way for me to push on and explore the outermost limits of myself, mentally and physically, in a way that is fundamentally good.

The same dynamic applies to my creative pursuits: How much pain, how much uncertainty, how much discomfort am I brave enough to endure before I give up? Being brave is the best way to survive, and I’ve always been about survival.

The poems were whimsical, silly thoughts, sometimes from the perspective of a runner but just as often from the perspective of two shoes in love or a trail that misses the runner after she’s gone.

run like a bravey sleep like a baby dream like a crazy replace can’t with maybe

Chasing a dream is a never-ending negotiation, as in, you have to keep navigating, pivoting, adapting, and persisting. It’s a process that unfolds continually and never in a straight line.

good thing i didn’t accomplish all my goals yet because then what would i do tomorrow?