Treeline Turns ONE | Nikki’s Take!

by Nikki Parnell – September 22, 2020

---

Like a farmer tending their crops – caring, watering, patiently committed to the growth process of food, what we’re doing – writing, creating, growing a business, feels like a very similar form of cultivation. Nothing is accomplished quickly. It takes time and consistency, with each day’s progress looking differently. There are moments of little victories, but mostly you have keep your eyes focused on the horizon, bypassing instant gratification for the bigger picture and grander adventure. And it’s a journey that’s not going to come easy. Sort of like running an ultra.

We’re traveling down a trail that is windy and rocky, hilly and exposed, with breathtaking views. Sometimes we’re bombing fast and free down buttery single track; everything is effortless. But then in the next moment, we’re pulling out the trekking poles, heads down, lungs burning and everything feels hard. Sometimes the stomach goes south or the headspace around constantly having to self-motivate goes negative, doubting. But in the struggle is where you find yourself, right? Perhaps the best part of this year is that we have sidled right up to our truer selves, befriending and becoming. We both know that this is what we want to do as long as we’re able to do it.

This has been a year of observing the world and writing it down. Of creating and editing and trial and error. Of getting curious and learning and relearning. There were days where we were on fire —  so productive and elated, unstoppable. And there were days when writer’s block was real or the personal insecurities were clamorous, blocking out any whisper of confidence. But we learned that the storms pass and the next day brings calmer waters.

2020 was…well, 2020

COVID brought challenges of course. Many people would say, “good thing your work wasn’t affected by COVID.” And they were right in some ways. From the outside, the day to day didn’t look all too differently, Chase holed up in the bedroom instead of a coffee shop all day (as much as a dad can do that with two little kids running around the house screaming). We were relatively lucky, but no one was unscathed. Our world — everyone’s world — has been affected. We were going to run and write about big races. We were going to travel the world and work with people abroad. Our running struggled. Turns out creating content is very difficult when the world feels chaotic and anxiety is high. And when so many bigger things are happening, there were lulls in readership, because really, running doesn’t feel all that important when there are mass protests in the streets. In a tenuous economy, marketing budgets for brands to advertise on websites like ours were the first dollars to be pulled back. All that to say, we did feel 2020, and we try to remind ourselves that things will get better, fingers crossed!

Day to Day Operations

We have learned that feeling rhythmic in this type of job means that a routine is critical for making space to work and think and goal set. We’ve stumbled into a fairly consistent schedule – we work in the early morning hours, take turns running, then Chase works more and I adventure or hang around the house with the kids. Then afternoon naps come and we work some more, as much as we can before the babes wake. It can feel tough parenting around the clock and trying to squeeze in work whenever I have time to myself, however, I also LOVE it and wish I could work more! So that helps!

Chase and I try to have spontaneous work meetings here and there but oftentimes that’s just downright laughable. Parent’s can’t get three words in to each other when the kids are conscious! We know we need to carve out more time for big picture stuff and not get totally lost in the grind of putting out articles/podcasts/videos as fast as possible. There are so many ideas floating around just waiting for us to get the chance to pull them down into reality.

Run Hard Mom Hard Podcast

Our podcast has been a HUGE bright light this year for me. I never saw myself having a podcast. Never, ever, ever. I love to talk, most people know that about me, but it’s different being recorded and hoping I’ll say the right thing or anything at all that sounds somewhat smart when it counts. Thankfully, I have my sweet cohost Stef to edit the audio. I couldn’t do it! Playing back my voice, cringe-worthy moments and all; nope, no way, fuhgeddaboudit! Stef has been invaluable and was really the one who encouraged me to start this whole thing! It’s been so fun to grow our friendship each week.

I’d like to point out how reluctant I was at the beginning. I said we’d, “just start with 8 episodes, take a break, and reevaluate.” Well, 25 episodes later, we’re still here and we only missed one or two Friday releases! I love hearing women’s stories and getting to share them with the world. I am constantly inspired by our guests and really appreciate all they have taught me. I literally treasure their words in my heart and pull them out as motivation when I need it (which is often). We have learned a lot and improved our art of asking questions (it’s hard in a spontaneous conversation to stay engaged in the story while also remembering what you hoped to ask next!) We have grown a lot, we have an amazing community of listeners behind us, we’ve worked with awesome brands, and we feel like we’re on a roll… so we’re going to keep rocking it!

The Pursuit of Happiness

A general takeaway that Chase and I learned this year is that one must choose to be happy. You can’t wait until X happens. Even drastically changing your lifestyle like we did (Chase quitting his job and us following our passions) doesn’t automatically secure anything. It definitely helps (A LOT) but in the day to day there will still be those ebbs and flows. Life won’t be perfect in the snap of your fingers; there’s some adjusting and readjusting as you go along. No matter the situation you’re in, you must choose happiness and find it from within instead of waiting for it to come to you. We have felt empowered because every day we get to ask ourselves if what we’re doing with our work and lifestyle supports the overall life we’re trying to create. And more often than not it does because we have the freedom to intentionally choose what we spend our time and energy on. We recognize that this is a great privilege and responsibility, one we don’t take lightly!

The year has been a wild and rewarding one! From the beginning, I’ve told Chase that no matter what actually ends up happening with Treeline Journal — whatever it looks like or evolves into, this process has been GOOD. It’s given us room to discover and confirm what we were searching for — passion and purpose. We’ve been able to spend a lot of time this year at the metaphorical (and sometimes physical) treeline. That place, that vantage point is our roots, where we started. To quote that husband of mine, “To us, we view the treeline on any great hike or run as that moment of transition and wonder. On the approach, typically you have your head down, plodding through the woods — lost in the thoughts from yesterday. But when you hit that elevation where the giant pines no longer thrive — the treeline — the landscape and your connection with it broadens. You’ve entered the present moment and you see the world from a higher plane.” We’ve found that treeline moment many times this year and I’m so thankful for what it brought us.

To end, my favorite quote right now is this: “My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together.” – Desmond Tutu. We feel a connection with you all when we get to write about our beloved sport and the real, authentic people within this world. We get to join with you in this collective humanity. We would never have grown and cannot keep growing without your readership and participation!!! (I’ll add some more exclamation marks because it’s that important)!! Our writing, while fun and therapeutic for us, doesn’t mean a lot if there are no people reading the words and relating to the stories. We’ve met so many incredible people on this journey. It’s safe to say that our community is the freaking bomb-dot-com. Thank you to each and every one of you who walked alongside us this year, you truly don’t know how much it means to us!

Enjoy this article? Consider supporting us via Patreon for as little as $2 a month. We appreciate your support. It goes a long way in keeping Treeline Journal afloat!