|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Welcome back to The Bend!
|
|
The Bend follows a simple rhythm each week. The Eddy Line opens with a one-line thought or
observation, something short enough to remember but worth thinking
about. What the Current Pulled Toward dives a
little deeper into where the previous week’s energy went, whether that’s
a project, a partnership, or a personal lesson learned. Signal Fire highlights a person, place, or initiative
that deserves some attention. From the
Field, shares a small anecdote about the broader outdoor
recreation economy from Oxbow’s non-profit arm, the VA
MTNS Outdoor Collective. And One Thought Worth
Sitting With closes things out with a brief reflection or quote
that will hopefully help guide you through whatever you may be dealing
with.
It’s part journal, part field note, and hopefully
something that makes you pause for a moment before diving back into the
current.
|
|
|
|
|
|
“Sometimes the hardest role to play is
yourself.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
What the Current Pulled Toward
|
This week the current pulled toward
pretense.
I’m not a fan of it.
Generally speaking, what you read here is who I actually am.
Sometimes this newsletter is probably more open than it should be. Some
folks would call it vulnerability. Others might call it oversharing.
Either way, I’ve never had much interest in pretending everything is
polished and perfectly put together.
But last week, I found myself in a situation where I didn’t
feel like I had much choice but to put on airs a bit. I’ll spare you the
details, mostly because they’re not mine alone to tell, but the
experience has stuck with me much longer than I expected. It felt inauthentic at the time and as of the writing of
this, it still does. But I did it anyway.
That
decision has me wrestling with whether pretense is always a bad thing or
whether there are moments where it becomes necessary for the good of the
whole. Is it appropriate in order to steady the room? What about to keep
things moving or to protect people? Perhaps to protect yourself?
I really don’t know.
Part of me believes authenticity should always win. Another
part understands that life is more complicated than that and that
leadership, relationships, and responsibility all sometimes require
restraint, composure, or even performance.
I think that’s where the most tension is. Not in whether or not pretense exists (because it absolutely
does) but whether it’s being used to manipulate or simply to navigate
something difficult without making it worse.
Like most things, I reckon that line probably comes down to
individual values and at some point, only you
can decide what yours are.
- Mike.
|
|
|
|
|
|
I’ve been working alongside Tri-State
Company for a little over a year now on trail design and
construction projects, and quite simply, they’re the gold standard when
it comes to natural surface trails.
Dating back to the late 1980s, their work spans everything
from hand-built backcountry trail systems to large-scale machine-built
flow trails. But what separates them isn’t just the equipment or the
portfolio, it’s the depth of knowledge and understanding of how trails
are actually supposed to function on the land.
Charlie Dundas and John Gibson have forgotten more about
trail development and construction than I’ll ever know and the thing I appreciate most is that they approach trails
as experiences, not just infrastructure. Good trail work disappears into
the landscape. It feels natural and intentional, like it belongs
there.
To learn more about Tri-State, click
here.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Marketing folks in the outdoor industry talk a lot
about authenticity. Authentic brands. Authentic
experiences. Authentic communities.
But like any industry, there’s also a performative side to
it sometimes, places trying to “look outdoorsy,” communities chasing
branding without infrastructure, businesses selling identity as much as
product.
The interesting part is that
people usually figure out the difference eventually.
Real places tend to hold up over time. Pretending usually
doesn’t.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
One Thought Worth Sitting With
|
|
This week’s theme: Pretense.
“Be yourself; everyone else
is already taken.“
-Oscar Wilde
|
|
|
|
|
|
Follow Oxbow on Social Media
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
