Band of Horses, a great Seattle band, once sang “the world is such a wonderful place.” I think they were thinking of the Great Pacific Northwest when they wrote that line and I think they think of it every time they sing it in three-part, country harmony.

I and five of my friends started the drive to the Oregon coast at 4 PM on Labor Day. The sun was high and hot and the road was clear. We passed the city of Grande Ronde. My brother Drew Miller and the Courthouse Nutrition team works with the tribal members there. He and his team are teaching the tribal community how to love movement. He is teaching them the meaning of fitness. He is helping that community understand freedom through fitness.

I am going to coast because I finished my work early. I am going because I can. I am going because I have this twitch in my fingers and a tap in my toes that wants to do something new. I am going because among all my goals (the ones that deal with times and miles and age divisions and reps and weight) I have a bigger goal: always love movement and be ready to enjoy anything. 

My good friend Jordan Roach (JoRo) took two skim boards from the back of the car and we took off our shoes and walked into the frigid coastal waves. I failed time after time after time trying to move over the inches of water. I watched JoRo as he slid and swerved. I tried and tried again and ran in circles chasing that thin piece of waxed wood. Near the end of the evening, as the sun was retreating behind thick clouds above the horizon, I was able to ride a few feet. Then, a few feet farther.

I am chasing this board for one good reason: because I can. I have been training for this. No one is watching and no one cares. Because this whole thing is silly. But, what I am doing now is important. It is vital. It has be to done. Because it can be done. Because the air is still warm and the waves keep coming at me, saying try again, try again, one more time.  

Because the world is such a wonderful place. It exists to be seen. It is meant to be experienced.

Do something. Do whatever you want, whenever you want. Because you can.