some thoughts about the pressures of trialing in dog sports and the emotional environment of trials, partially inspired by this post by the beautiful @mongrelization
this post happened to come at a time when I was at a decision point in my trial career with mav. he had just started refusing jumps (i thought it was a training issue at the time, i now know he was in pain) and he wasn't having fun. we were disconnected in the ring, with him choosing to go visit friends or just blow past obstacles without attempting them. it was frustrating and it was such a stark contrast from our training runs (not flawless but immeasurably better than our performances in the ring) and i was making jokes (as everyone does!) about mav being the worst, etc, etc.
except they weren't jokes.
they sounded like jokes and they even felt like jokes in the moment, but looking back i can confidently see that i was frustrated and resentful and the "lighthearted jokes" from other competitors and from myself were just fueling the fire. i saw darcies post shortly after a particularly frustrating trial where we just couldn't connect, i was trying to decide whether to push through and fix our issues or give up completely on agility.
her post wasn't an epiphany, i probably would've gotten there eventually, but her post that said, essentially hey its fucked up to make those jokes about your dog and its fucked up for people to make those jokes about your dog and thats not how a trial should be - something clicked. its NOT how it should be.
i took a break from trialing in everything and cut training way back and just took all the pressure off of mav while i got my internal emotional environment back on track. im a really competitive person and its hard to consciously dial that back, but more than that, it's legitimately embarrassing when things go wrong with people watching you. if your default is humor about it (like mine), its a hard shift to not make jokes about your dog when things go wrong. but its an important and necessary shift.
i started trialing him again after about 3 months off, very lightly. i stopped entering full weekends and opted to do half-days or only saturdays and he fucking THRIVED. i made time to meet all his needs before trials, i prioritized his happiness over technically correct courses, and i got over the embarrassment of excusing myself from a run if it was going downhill. i fixed my internal emotional environment and that fixed our disconnect and made every win more meaningful.
the thing is, i am 100% sure i would not have fixed my emotional environment if i was actively competing and practicing the same patterns. i absolutely had to take that step back to fix myself. you can't make meaningful change if youre still in the middle of it acting it out.
i lost out on trials with mav and that sucked so much in the moment. i had awful FOMO watching my friends compete and finish titles while we did little low-pressure walks at home. but ultimately i gained something so much more important, and looking back i can't bring myself to regret that at all.
62 notes
·
View notes
Guys - please tell me to go out of käärijä aribnb before I book the room for the JO concert x'D
20 notes
·
View notes
guy who doesn't have a type because maybe he doesn't know himself enough to know what he likes...
7 notes
·
View notes
It's so freakin hard to sew up Zhongli's coat while making it as canon-accurate as possible. Like what in the laws of physics are Zhongli's sleeve cuffs?????
A longer explanation post to follow.
9 notes
·
View notes
Some context expansions. I write explicit works and am angling for another Dom Eddie so that's a factor. And I don't do unhappy endings. I do morally ambiguous endings, but always happy for the boys.
Option 1. Rockstar Eddie falling for a completely oblivious Steve and trying to hide his fame to have a normal relationship because Steve has a celebrity vendetta. (Alternate Universe)
Option 2. Established Relationship Steddie dealing with the after effects of an overly affectionate, aggressive, and protective Kas Eddie. (In Universe)
Option 3. Married "ready to leave my wife for you" Steve cheating with "i can not handle that kind of pressure" Eddie, (In Universe)
Option 4. Adult siblings Robin and Eddie with single dad Eddie begging for a babysitter rec, which Robin gives in the form of her bestfriend that she's never let Eddie meet, on the one condition that you do NOT fuck her best friend. He does not follow this condition. (Alternate Universe)
Option 5. Pirate Eddie escorting cursed Prince Steve overseas for a possible cure to an unknown affliction, with explicit instructions to kill him if it doesn't work. And to ignore any singing you may here at night with him on board. And a whole other list of strange details. (Alternate Universe)
34 notes
·
View notes
things im still not over (as someone who was mostly inactive since mid 2021):
mask and change my clothes!! i dont think i was active on tumblr when change my clothes was released, but the way i ascended when i heard his soft sweet singing voice <33 mask is my favorite song of his and it still makes me emotional to think about what the song meant to him. his creativity is one of his greatest strengths and i am endlessly happy that he found a way to share more of himself in a way that he really enjoys
DREAM TEAM MEETUP tbh i really did not know if these days would ever come. its so so so crazy to think that florida man dream texas cowboy sapnap and british george are really all living together and existing in the same space. seeing them be THEM irl is still very surreal and makes me pause for a second without fail. so so much of the community centered around them not having met each other irl
DREAM FACE REVEAL!!!! this one i REALLY HONESTLY didnt know if it would ever come, just because the courage it takes to face reveal after building one of the largest audiences is fucking crazy. i thought that even if they did end up living together, dream might’ve found that he is happy to just be with them and not want to face reveal anymore. ig never doubt dream- he’s such a “go big or go home” type of person. i love him regardless but now he is also a big bear who wears cat beanies and has the prettiest eyes and im emotionally attached
dream pics before his face reveal with a big emphasis on suit pics, swt halloween, and strawberry dream. his white hoodie posey pose and the ones with the blanket and patches have a permanent home in my heart but these had me convulsing and i didnt get to gush about them here </3
49 notes
·
View notes
the mental image of wilbur being in the same category as the other champion’s kids is so funny to me. not just because he’s a grown adult and the other four are like. two teenagers and two toddlers. but also because in comparison he’s just a Normal Ass Dude with daddy issues. like obviously you have the demi-gods of ianita and hermes. but also whatever the fuck tubbo “figured out nuclear weapons from scratch at age 16” _sparklez and crumb “literal chaos incarnate” cuptoast-sparklez. it’s also important to mention that all four of them consider themselves the most normal and sane person there and treat WILBUR like the weirdo when he’s by far the most normal guy ever in comparison to their bullshit
125 notes
·
View notes