I thought I’d record this attempt to live stream my juggling practice (15 minutes on my lunch break) so I can compare a few weeks from now and see if the progress is tangible and also so I can play back and observe what I am doing wrong.
I have been practicing almost every day and have inconsistently been going between 3 and 9 passes at a time. I feel like I am more relaxed when I try (I’m probably making less of a weird face, no tongue sticking out!) and I feel like I’m thinking less - which is nice. I brought three juggling balls to work and left three at home. Best. Idea. Ever. I now started to juggle at work when I’m on a phone call where I only need to be listening or if I am staring at my whiteboard notes and thinking about a problem. It’s very relaxing at the same time that it helps me focus. Yay juggling!
Tonight I spent about two hours practicing.
I’ve been able to pass 3 balls at a time for a couple of days so I focused on trying to go further than one cycle (3 passes). My friend Chris told me to target 30 passes, which sounds like a good goal (not easy but doable).
When I start with 2 balls on my right hand and 1 on the left, by the end of the movement I have 2 on my left hand and 1 on my right. For some reason I was not able to start or continue passing in this configuration. Tonight, however, I practiced starting with 2 on either hand many times and that made it possible to reach 4 passes a few times after about 40 minutes of trying.
It made me so happy I could hardly believe it. It finally felt like juggling. Up until now it felt more like a mechanical exercise, and while progress has been extremely exciting, now it actually looks like I can juggle when I’m trying.
After some success with 4 passes, I managed to reach 5. I was so blown away I stopped, though I probably could have gone further. I was very enthusiastic and proud of my success so I continued passing until I reached 6. Amazing!
I don’t know when I’ll be able to do this regularly, but I am so thrilled with the progress so far (and also how quickly I feel I have progressed against my original expectations) that I can’t wait for tomorrow’s practice.
Woohoo! Started down the path to my series of 30. Did 4 passes (with 3 balls) a few times tonight. Thank for the tips @chrisfahey! #juggling
My wife tells me juggling consumes 270 calories/hour according to the interwebs. This is way more exercise than I ever get. #win #adailybeer
I’m surprised by how juggling practice is really making me learn this thing. It is hard, but I thought it would be much much harder.
Hearing @whitneyhess say “IA Summit is a great conference that supports first time speakers” as her motivation to try. I want to keep that.
This running time count bullshit is making it impossible for me to know where we are in the game. Specially since they are playing overtime.
RT @iHollaback: End street harassment! Only four days left to vote for Hollaback! in the #revelation to action” competition! http://tiny …
Playing 120 minutes is fucking exhausting. Don’t expect anything extraordinary beyond this point. #worldcup
