Wear the right shoes.
Some activities require more specialized equipment than others. Hard to rollerblade in bare feet, for example.
My husband spent years avoiding ALL of the latest high-tech biking stuff. He insisted on regular t-shirts over special moisture-wicking synthetic fiber bike shirts. He wore his regular sports shoes instead of special biking shoes.
We had friends a few years ago who used to laugh openly at his lack of high-tech gear. "I can't believe your husband rides in a cotton T-SHIRT!" the wife giggled.
He never had any problem enjoying long bicycle rides just because he didn't have the fancy clothing, shoes and gadgets, though. When the weather allows, he's off on his bike every chance he gets.
But he finally realized that those "geeky bike shoes with the special clip-on cleats" (that attach to the bike pedals) really do provide a more efficient, more enjoyable experience for long-distance riding. (And he still doesn't know the right name for them.)
They are only useful, though, on rides where you don't have to stop much (since the shoes have to be dmanually isengaged from the pedal when you stop.) Those same shoes and pedals would make in-town riding miserable.
So the right equipment can make your workout not only better, but possible. More efficient. More fun.
On the flip side, some people get so caught up in the high-tech accruements, they spend more time shopping and playing with the "toys" than they do actually doing the activity.
Too much equipment can eat up your cash resources. Or put the focus on how to get your next new "toy" rather than your next good workout. Or interfere with the simple act of getting out there and exercising.
Special "karate shoes" won't make you a better karate student if you don't show up for classes.
Jon, for all his lack of gizmos and high-tech sportswear, still logs in hundreds of miles biked every year. While the friend who poked fun of him for being so low-tech? Hasn't been on a bike in a loooong time.....
If a new sport "toy" excites you enough to exercise more, then it's a good thing. If it distracts you from the PURPOSE of your work-out--to exercise more, to make your work-out more productive, and help you enjoy your activity-- it's not a good thing.
The same with our art biz.
My own two craft media, the world of quilting and the world of polymer clay, are especially prone to this "new toy" phenomenon. New tools, techniques and gadgets are introduced almost weekly. Pick up a decent quilter supply catalog and you will find hundreds--no, THOUSANDS--of gadgets designed to aid you in sewing two pieces of fabric together. The polymer clay industry is just as product-dense.
I'll take that back--these two media are not any more prone to this than any other medium. In fact, classes and supplies for painting probably lead the pack. Special brushes, engineered paints, exotic papers and canvases, intricate easels--the list is endless.
New toys are fun. And classes can expand our artistic vocabulary, strengthen our repertoire of skills and abilities.
They can also water down our focus. Our ability to develop and refine a FEW skills to perfection. All the squirrel-hair brushes and archival quality paper and lightfast paints in the world will not transform a mediocre painter into an accomplished artist.
In our eagerness to get on board the "next new thing", we join the ranks of dilettantes--by definition, those who pursue an art as a pasttime, especially sporadically or superficially. As opposed to the original definition of amateur--one who pursues an art as a pasttime rather than a profession. It used to mean "someone who loved what they did and did it even while not accepting money for it." Getting paid was not the end result--enjoyment was. ("Amateur" now means/implies someone who has not MASTERED their skill enough to pursue it as a profession.)
There's nothing wrong with being a dilettante or an amateur--unless it's getting in the way of something else you want. If you want to be considered an ARTIST, you must rise above your tools and techniques--and be a master of the medium itself.
Having said that, I'm now researching a new quilting frame that will allow me to create really big wall hangings. And I'm going to drop big bucks on it to boot.
I realized recently that I've held back on pursuing this kind of commission. Why? It's really hard for me to sew on a big wall hanging. The sheer physical aspects of maneuvering large pieces through my sewing machine is daunting.
When I faced my fears ("Exactly what am I afraid of?") I could see it was a problem that might have a solution. Sure enough, the next time I walked into my favorite sewing machine place (The Moses House here in Keene NH http://www.themoseshouse.com/ ) there was exactly what I needed--a quilting frame with a mounting for a sewing machine that allows you to freestyle quilt a HUGE piece.
This is a tool that will allow me to take on those bigger wall pieces I envision. It will be worth every penny of the approximately $800 I'll be investing in it.
It is "the right shoes" for the next step.
P.S. Yes, I'm putting in a plug for Russ Moline, owner of The Moses House. He was recommended to me years ago by my former sewing machine guy, Jim Hunt of Peterboro, NH (who had retired from his SECOND retirement business of repairing sewing machines.) Russ is honest, fair, knowledgable, accomodating (he buys, sells, repairs old and new sewing machines) and best of all, has a wicked dry sense of humor. I trust him implicitly with my sewing machines which are my main power tools, and I trust him to advise me when I'm ready to take on new equipment. He's a great guy, and I heartily recommend him.
