The following are some notes from a day-long writing class I attended at East Bay Meditation Center called, “Write Action.” Which of course is a clever play on words from “Right Action,” one of the of practices from the Noble Eight Fold Path taught by the Buddha as a way to end suffering. Which is less a path and more interconnected practices, but I digress. Kind of.

In learning about Buddhism and Buddhist practices this year, I have realized these practices are the ways in which I have tried to live my life. Buddhism as a religion, though some say it is more a philosophy and way of life, is created on a foundation of the Four Noble Truths — there is suffering (dukkha, also translated as unsatisfactoriness), the causes of suffering, knowing there is a way to cease the suffering, and how to cease suffering in the world. So what does this have to do with running and our connections to nature?

For me, I have found the practices of Buddhism align with (support, enhance, strengthen) my beliefs of our connections to all living beings and the ways in which we should be caring for ourselves, others, and the environment. And so much more, but back to my notes:

Awareness of awareness

Worlds in worlds

Ecosystems within ecosystems

Ecological and social harms and injustices are calling us and requiring us to go deeper in our understanding of the impacts we create by our actions. Running being one of those actions. My question to myself and runners/running culture is, how can we be more expansive with our running practices? What kind of running culture can create resilience for what we face when it comes to climate change and a fascist government? Both are creating suffering we that we see and feel every day. What kind of running culture will fill us with joy, and love, and sustain us in the long run — literally.

These are some thoughts I had as I was creating a series of double exposed film photos in which I hope to convey our connections to the natural world. We are the natural world and have a responsibility to care for ourselves and them. All non-human living beings. I also believe we have a responsibility (which sounds like such an un-fun word) to have fun! And running is that! Running is fun and un-fun, as anyone who runs will tell you.

Creating these photos has brought me such joy and happiness and I hope those feelings are reflected here as you view them.

Thank you Alexis, Rebecca, and Isabella for being a part of this series and having conversations on how we can use our running practices for change.

Photos of the land: Trails at Serpentine Prairie and Reinhardt Redwood Regional Park

Runner photos: Alexis Madrigal at Serpentine Prairie and Reinhardt Redwood Regional Park