Strength Training for Swimmers: An Integrated and Advanced Approach

The purpose of this article is to discuss the benefits of strength training and the factors that need to be considered when designing a program for a competitive swimmer.  We will also discuss a functional approach to strength training and show you how it can be incorporated with a more traditional approach. IHPSWIM’s philosophy is that each style of training has its benefits and therefore should be integrated together.  This article will conclude with an example of one our daily strength programs.

Strength training provides far too many benefits to simply just throw together a program full of random exercises with no rhyme or reason.  Just as swim coaches plan, periodize, and vary intensity and volume, the same should be done for their strength program.  With a well designed strength program athletes will see great improvements in strength, power, an increase in muscle mass (if desired), core strength, and most importantly you will see less overuse injuries.  Overuse injuries tend to happen because of muscle imbalances.  A good strength program will include exercises that address these imbalances as well.

For the purpose of this article, let’s first start by defining what traditional lifts are.  These are your standard barbell squats, bench press, lat pull down and machine exercises (ie. Nautilus) that are more oriented towards muscle isolation, a fixed range of motion and single plane movement.  These types of exercises are great for developing growth in lean muscle tissue and increasing strength and power.  What they lack is the ability to increase core strength and are restrictive when it comes to performing exercises that include multi-limb and multi-directional movement.  Exercises that are multi-limb and multi directional in nature and movement oriented have been labeled “functional training” by some of the leaders in the fitness industry.  This type of training is based on the idea of training movements (multiple muscle groups working together as a unit) and not isolated muscle groups.  Integrating traditional and functional exercises into a strength program provides the benefits from each approach.  The obstacle that coaches may face is getting all of this in with only a limited amount of time set aside for training done out of the water.  The sample workout in this article will demonstrate a very easy way to make this work.

Shown below is an example of an upper body power phase workout when training in the weight room 2 days a week.  Day # 1 focuses on upper body power and Day #2 focuses on the lower body power (not shown).  Every workout contains a traditional, functional, core and rotational exercises.

The power phase typically lasts 4 weeks but can vary depending on other variables.  Please note that the power phase is only done after a general conditioning/hypertrophy phase (high volume, low to moderate intensity) and a strength phase (low volume, high intensity) are performed at some point in almost all cases.

The first circuit on Tuesday starts off with the Lat pulldown. Perform 5 reps and then take a 45 second rest period followed by 5 medicine ball slams.  This combination is a version of complex training, a type of strength training that is used to develop power.  Every circuit will start with a variation of this combination which is a traditional lift  followed by an explosive movement (after a 45 second rest) that is similar to the  movements and muscle groups performed in the traditional lift.  The 3^rd exercise is the diagonal cable chop (Figure 1) which is a great exercise for the strengthening rotation in the core. The 3^rd exercise represents a functional or core exercise. This circuit will be repeated 3 times.

The 2^nd circuit of the day starts with a traditional machine row followed by an explosive recline rope pull (Figure 2).  We use a very thick rope that is looped over monkey bars.  This movement needs to be fast and should result in there being slack in the rope at the top of the exercise.  This is followed by a 1 legged squat which is great for developing leg strength, hip stability and requires no equipment.  Progress this exercise by increasing the range of motion, as long as control and proper technique can be maintained throughout.  Never perform exercises that are out of control and sloppy.

 

The 3^rd and final circuit of the day begins with a 1 arm Dumbbell Row.  After the 45 second rest period an explosive pull – up is performed.  The objective here is to perform a fast pull – up and slightly catch air.  The regular pull up MUST be mastered before doing this. This is a very advanced exercise and should only be performed by athletes that have above average pulling strength and no shoulder problems.  The 3rd exercise is the T – stabilization push – up which can be performed on an incline if to difficult to perform properly on the ground.  This exercise is a great core and shoulder stabilization exercise.

At the end of all 3 circuits we usually do 3 fast rope climbs for time.  Depending on the level of strength, we can perform this with the assistance of the legs, no legs, and finally the hardest version, which is starting from the seated position off of the floor.

There is no one style of training that is the end all be all.  Limiting yourself to only doing traditional exercises or only doing functional exercises is limiting the potential of you and your athletes. These circuits make it easy to integrate everything together and get the best of the different training methods out there.  Our goal at IHPSWIM is to help swimmers and coaches organize and implement a solid strength and dryland program.

For more information on our training philosophy check out our DVD titled LAPS:Functional Dryland Training for Swimmers or email Grif at Grif@ihpfit.com. I hope this article will help you meet your goals and get you the results you want!

Swim Parent Newsletter – Subscribe Today for Less than $0.50 Per Week!

Every week over 40,000 families receive the Swim Parents Newsletter through their head coach.

It is such an easy and inexpensive method for parent education.  For less than $.50 a week, every week we will send you an article you can actually use “as is” to help your parents understand more about our sport and ease your role in parent education.  Receive it, Open it, Review it, and with a couple of clicks forward it to your whole team.  Easy.

One of our most praised articles, “The Awesome 8 Year Old,” was recently published and I would like to present it as an example of the type of article we send out.  You can view it here for free.

If you would more articles like “The Awesome 8 Year Old” you can subscribe by calling us at 800-356-2722 between 8 AM and 5 PM Eastern Time or you can subscribe on line at https://www.swimmingcoach.org/ecom/store/comersus_listItems.asp?idCategory=83

The cost is only $25 per year.

 

For More Info, Please Contact:

Guy Edson

American Swimming Coaches Association

5101 NW 21st Ave., Suite 200

Fort Lauderdale, FL 33309

800-356-2722, 8 AM-5PM Eastern Time

Unique Level 2 Stroke School Presentation for 2011 ASCA World Clinic

One of ASCA’s goals is to provide unusual “looks” at the concepts involved in teaching the ASCA Level 2 Stroke School.  On Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2011 in San Diego, we’ll have such an unusual opportunity.

We’ll have co-instructors for the course. Coach Ira Klein will join Coach Terry Laughlin to teach the course.  These lifelong friends have two completely diverse views of teaching swimming to different populations.

Terry is the founder of  TOTAL IMMERSION SWIMMING, the leading methodology in the world to teach new swimmers, masters swimmers and triathletes to become better swimmers.  Terry focuses on balance in the water, reducing resistance and creating great swimming shapes, to move easer in the water and turn “strugglers” into beautiful aquatic athletes.  Before he started Total Immersion Swimming, Terry was an age group swimming coach of renown, and still continues to coach local swimmers near his home base in New York.  Terry will provide a very unique perspective on both the teaching process and the sequence of teaching skills in the water.

Ira Klein has coached in every USA-Swimming Zone.  He’s produced national level swimming in all of them, as well as serving several stints with National YMCA winning teams.  Ira coaches all ages of young swimmers and in addition to a short stint at USA-Swimming offices, he’s coached at Auburn University as well as club teams such as Las Vegas Gold, Santa Barbara Swim Club,  Joliet Y Jets, and  Sarasota Y.

Currently, Ira owns his own team in Sarasota, Florida and is one of the leading club coaches in the USA, with daily coaching/teaching experience in his own SwimAmerica Learn to Swim Program.

The chemistry between these two friends is magical and their teaching of the ASCA Level 2 Stroke School should be a special experience for attending coaches.

Join us for the 2011 World Clinic in San Diego, CA

Click on the link below for more information

https://www.swimmingcoach.org/worldclinic/asca2011/default.asp

Transform An Idea Into An Outcome With Impact

The planning that goes into making any idea a reality involves five distinct stages – purpose, vision, brainstorm, organization, next actions.

In most situations coaches/boards/programs get bogged down with the organization of the project. I.e., “How will we do this? Who will take care of that? What’s our timeline on this?”

While these are all necessary considerations, in general, people need to spend significantly less time with the organization of a project.

Instead, they need to think more about the purpose, galvanize more the vision of how cool the outcome might really people, create and collect more potentially useful ideas and perspectives, and decide and distribute accountabilities for specific next actions more consistently.

Do we know why we are doing this? Have we fully opened our brains to consider what the end result should look like? Have we thought outside the box, stretching appropriately into a wild vision of success? As we move to thinking about how we are going to do things, have we surfaced all the potentially relevant details and perspectives?

Only after factoring in these considerations can we effectively organize into structures, major components, sequences and priorities. Purpose, vision, brainstorm, next actions – If those additional four levels of thinking are sufficient, you’ll have the right organization when you get to it and the appropriate moving parts actually in motion as well.

Remember, don’t mistake activity for productivity.

Ten Day Dryland Training Cycle – Some Thoughts from Coach John Leonard

Dryland Training Cycle

This is a ten day cycle. On the 2^nd ten day go-round, on the odd numbered days, add a heavier med ball to the routine. On the 2^nd go round add WEIGHT to each exercise. Same on the 3^rd go-round. Same on the 4^th go-round. After 40 days of training like this, we should adjust the routine to incorporate some changes and new material.  You’ll start out needing 30 minutes a day on the first couple of days, (outside of running, which can be done in the same session or at a different time of day.  But it will rapidly increase to about 45 minutes/1 hour per day towards the end of each cycle because of the increase in numbers.

Probably good to take a 2-3 day Break from dryland at the end of each 10 day cycle.

JL

#1 – Run 30 minutes steady, easy

Med ball – standing – 25 chest passes, 25 overheads

Med ball – standing – 50 figure eights – change direction half way.

Med ball – “hikes” – 10 each partner.

Med ball situps – 4 x 25 sprint speed with ball.

Pushups – normal position – 3(10-9-8-7-6) 40 per set, 120 total.

Med ball wall throws – Overhead – 25, from side 25 left, 25 right, heavy ball.

#2 – Planks – 4 positions – 2 sets – 1 warmup 15 seconds, 1 full at 30 seconds.

Pushups with feet on med-ball – 10

Situps with feet on exercise ball – 30

Pullups – 5 x 5

Pulldowns with light weight on machine – 3×30

Dumbbell alternate arm flings – 30 each arm.

Bam-bams with med ball – 3 x 50

Swim Bench – 75 recovery strokes – Turned around backwards.

#3 – Run 30 minutes – 20 steady, 10 sprints.

Med ball – standing – 30 chest passes,  overheads

Med ball – standing – 60 figure eights – change direction half way.

Med ball – “hikes” – 15 each partner.

Med ball situps – 5 x 25 sprint speed with ball.

Pushups – normal position – 4(10-9-8-7-6) 40 per set, 160 total.

Med ball wall throws – Overhead – 30, from side 30 left, 30 right, heavy ball.

#4. – Planks – 4 positions – 2 sets – 1 warmup 15 seconds, 1 full at 40 seconds.

Pushups with feet on med-ball – 15

Situps with feet on exercise ball – 40

Pullups – 5 x 6

Pulldowns with light weight on machine – 4×35

Dumbbell alternate arm flings – 40 each arm.

Bam-bams with med ball – 4 x 50

Swim Bench – 100  recovery strokes – Turned around backwards.

#5 – Run 30 minutes – 15 steady, 15 sprints

Med ball – standing – 40 chest passes, 40 overheads

Med ball – standing – 70 figure eights – change direction half way.

Med ball – “hikes” – 20 each partner.

Med ball situps – 6 x 25 sprint speed with ball. (125)

Pushups – normal position – 5(10-9-8-7-6) 40 per set, 200  total.

Med ball wall throws – Overhead – 350, from side 35 left, 35 right, heavy ball.

#6. Planks – 4 positions – 2 sets – 1 warmup 15 seconds, 1 full at 45 seconds.

Pushups with feet on med-ball – 20

Situps with feet on exercise ball – 50

Pullups – 5 x 7

Pulldowns with light weight on machine – 4×45

Dumbbell alternate arm flings – 50 each arm.

Bam-bams with med ball – 4 x 70

Swim Bench – 125  recovery strokes – Turned around backwards.

#7 – Run 40 minutes – Steady

Med ball – standing – 50 chest passes, 50 overheads

Med ball – standing – 70 figure eights – change direction half way.

Med ball – “hikes” – 25 each partner.

Med ball situps – 7 x 25 sprint speed with ball. (175)

Pushups – normal position – 6(10-9-8-7-6) 40 per set, 240  total.

Med ball wall throws – Overhead – 40, from side 40 left, 40  right, heavy ball.

#8.  Planks – 4 positions – 2 sets – 1 warmup 15 seconds, 1 full at 50 seconds.

Pushups with feet on med-ball – 25

Situps with feet on exercise ball – 60

Pullups – 5 x 8

Pulldowns with light weight on machine – 4×50

Dumbbell alternate arm flings – 60 each arm.

Bam-bams with med ball – 4 x 80

Swim Bench – 2 x 75   recovery strokes – Turned around backwards.

#9 – Run 40 minutes – 20 steady, 15 sprint, 5 steady.

Med ball – standing – 60 chest passes, 60 overheads

Med ball – standing – 80 figure eights – change direction half way.

Med ball – “hikes” – 30 each partner.

Med ball situps – 8 x 25 sprint speed with ball. (200 )

Pushups – normal position – 7(10-9-8-7-6) 40 per set, 280  total.

Med ball wall throws – Overhead – 45, from side 45left, 45  right, heavy ball.

 

#10. Planks – 4 positions – 2 sets – 1 warmup 15 seconds, 1 full at 55 seconds.

Pushups with feet on med-ball – 30

Situps with feet on exercise ball – 70

Pullups – 5 x 9

Pulldowns with light weight on machine – 4×60

Dumbbell alternate arm flings – 70 each arm.

Bam-bams with med ball – 4 x 100

Swim Bench – 2 x 100    recovery strokes – Turned around backwards.

Don’t miss out on the Central States Clinic!

ASCA Schools at the Central States Clinic

There is still time to sign up for ASCA Schools!   AND…There are still spots available for COACHES and SWIMMERS at the CENTRAL STATES SWIM CLINIC!

Don’t delay – REGISTRATIONS can still be mailed at the pre-registration rate until May 6!!! Door registrations will be accepted on site.

Additionally, the hotel has extended the special clinic rate until Friday as well. Rooms are still available, but they are going quickly. Be sure to call soon to guarantee yours - rooms can be booked as available until Friday May 6 at the special clinic rate by calling (630) 573-8555.

The Central States Swim Clinic on May 14-15, 2011 will be held at the Oak Brook Marriott, in Oak Brook, IL.

If you wish to register for these additional courses, please note in the appropriate space on the clinic registration form and include payment payable to Central States Swim Clinic. These courses may be attended separately or in conjunction with the clinic.

Click below to register

http://www.swimclinic.com/central_registration-form.html

Listed below is a list of ASCA Schools

*Age Group Sports Psychology
(May 12th: 1-5pm) $50.00
This course is designed to give coaches a clear and concise approach to developing their own mental training program for age group athletes. Areas covered are: organizing a program for your team and teaching methods; developing peak performance skills (relaxation, mental rehearsal, concentration) and how to practice these skills; and the teaching of life skills. (15 education credits)

*Working Successfully with Swimming Parents
(May 12th: 6-9pm) $50.00
This course is designed to provide you with “instant experience” and successful options in working with parents. Offers over 20 actual case studies and seven chapters of immediately useful, practical suggestions on how to be effective with your swim team parents. (15 education credits)

*The Physiology School
(May 13th: 9am-5pm) $60.00
The course is designed to give coaches a broad understanding of physiological principles and a working knowledge of season and workout design. Presented is the physiological basis for performance of the cardiovascular system, energy metabolism, swimming economy, type of training, fatigue mechanisms, and nutrition. Specific applications are presented including periodization of work and rest, workout design, taper, over training, strength and flexibility training. The school is conducted in simple, coach-oriented language that concentrates on conceptual understanding of the processes that lead to faster swimming and more effective training. (20 education credits)

*Creating Team Leadership
(May 13th: 6-8pm) $65.00/person
Previously ASCA has taught a class for just athletes. This course is for both coaches and athletes. Concepts to be covered will be what leadership is all about, how it applies in swimming, teaching the tools of being a leader & when to apply those tools. We will both teach the coach and teach the swimmer about leadership. This course is applicable to both real life and a swim team. It is designed so the coach & athlete can go home and educate their team about the skills of leadership.

Main Program

The 2011 Clinic proudly offers the following prestigious line-up of speakers and Olympians:

• Dave Salo: ’08, ’04 & ‘00 Olympic Coach, Author, Head Coach USC Men & Women
• Brett Hawke: 2 time Olympian, Head Coach Auburn Men & Women, Coach of Cielo
• Rick DeMont: Assistant Coach to the South African Men’s Swim Team at three recent Olympic Games
• Dave Durden: ‘04 Olympic & ’03 Pan Pac Coach, Head Coach UC Berkeley men
• Jackie Berning Ph.D: Nutrition Consultant, Author and Educator
• Brendan Hansen: Olympic Gold Medalist ’04, Bronze Medalist ’00 & World Recordholder
• Kristy Kowal: Olympic Silver Medalist ’00, 8 time American Record holder & 1 World Recordholder
• Lindsay Mintenko: 2 time Olympian, American Recordholder & USA Swimming National Team Managing Director

Our clinic offers you a special opportunity to be with top age group & university coaches as well as ASCA, USA Swimming Facilities Planning and USA Swimming club certification courses.

You can find more information about the clinic, here: http://www.swimclinic.com/central_details.html

Registration forms are available here: http://www.swimclinic.com/central_registration-form.html

Thought for the day

Care more than others think is wise,

Risk more than others think is safe,

Dream more than others think is practical,

Expect more than others think is possible.

Swimming Psyche Outs: How to be in control, confident and composed when faced with psyche outs (and how to use them to your advantage!).

Swimming Psyche Outs. How to be in control, confident and composed when faced with psyche outs (and how to use them to your advantage!!). Part One.Posted: 17 Mar 2011 12:08 AM PDT by Wayne Goldsmith “The highest reward for a person’s toil is not what they get for it but what they become by it.” John Ruskin How many times do you hear a football player or baseballer or basketballer say something like “It was tough out there today. The other team really psyched us out”. Sportspeople talk about the psyche out as something someone else did to them – that someone somehow did something mystical or magical that impacted on their performance. Lots of people talk about psyching out…………..so what is it? What is a psyche out? A psyche out is the words, actions and behaviors of another person trying to increase pressure on you and as a result try to negatively influence your performance. Pressure is a misunderstood concept in sport. Pressure is not the race; It is not the crowd; It is not the gold medal; It is not the opposition. It is something you put on yourself – it is something you create: it is something you generate. The psyche out has one goal – to convince you to put more pressure on yourself. Even the best swimmers will perform poorly if they lack confidence and can not deal with the pressure of competition. Think about swimming in your home pool on a warm summer morning with your friends. It feels great. It feels relaxed. It feels comfortable. Now imagine 50,000 people sitting in the stands around the pool watching you swim. How do you feel? Nervous? Tense? Uncomfortable? Under pressure? Why? The pool hasn’t got any longer. The water hasn’t changed. The only thing that has changed is you – and your perception that swimming in front of 50,000 people is different (and more pressure) than swimming in front of a few moms and dads. Pressure is something you generate in response to your perception of the situation. Why do some people try to psyche out others? Nothing impacts on performance like pressure! The main reason people try psyche out others is to artificially create pressure by increasing doubts, fears and insecurities in their opposition and try to erode their confidence. Remember this…………Pressure places people in positions for poor performance. Why are psyche outs such an effective strategy? Your attitude and your confidence determine your destiny. Anything that impacts on your attitude and destroys your confidence is potentially damaging to your performance. The psyche out is a tool some people use to attack attitude and kill confidence to get you to increase pressure on yourself. What kinds of psyche outs are there? Psyche outs come in two basic forms – the Dirty Downers and the Positive Power Plays. Dirty Downers (DD) are those psyche outs which focus on bringing people down through criticism, sarcasm and down right meanness. Positive Power Plays (PPP) are psyche outs which give you strength and confidence without putting anyone else down. Dirty Downers: Where do they happen? Dirty Downers can happen any where – the locker room, at the end of the pool during warm up, in the ready room, in the marshalling area, behind the blocks…….you name it, the Dirty Downer can hit you anytime…anywhere. Who does them? Thankfully not many swimmers are Dirty Downer Do-ers! Dirty downer do-ers are often swimmers who lack confidence in themselves and decide their best tactic (and their best chance of winning) lies not in developing their own confidence and self belief but in destroying the confidence of others. Make yourself psyche out proof. Here’s the secret……………………..psyche outs only work if you let them! It’s not the psyche outs that are the problem – it’s how you respond to them. Dirty downer do-ers can find fault in your appearance, your clothing, your hairstyle, your club, your friends, your family, your coach, your training program, your swim gear, your body odor, your dog………but the important thing is to learn to control how you respond to the comments and criticisms. A Dirty Downer Do-er is trying to get you to lose confidence and get you to create pressure on yourself by making you feel inadequate in comparison to them. Forget comparing yourself to other people – compare yourself with how close you are to your own full potential. Some of the best (and worst) psyche outs: A few leading swimmers were asked to talk about the best and worst psyche outs they have ever heard. Here are some real beauts! “Is that swim suit really small or have you just put on weight lately” “Are you still swimming? I heard you gave up a long time ago” “You look really tired – are you ok?” “Those goggles are really old. I can’t believe you still wear them” Regardless of the psyche out – remember the secret – the psyche out only works if you respond to the pressure it is trying to create! What they say and what they mean…………………………. Often the Dirty Downer Do-er will give hints about how they really think and feel in their psyche outs. If they are feeling a bit flat, tired and fatigued, they might try to hit you with a “hey you look tired and worn out” comment. Listen to what they say but also listen to what they mean: For example: They say: “I have been doing 10 sessions a week and I am in the best shape of my career” . They mean: “I am not really sure how i am going to go today” They say “We’re swimming through the meet. We’re not even tapering for this meet” They mean: “I need an excuse in case I don’t swim well today” They say:“We’ve just done a hell week” They mean: “I am really tired” They say: “We’re doing 50 miles a week” They mean: “I am really tired” They say: “I’ve just done a huge pb in the gym” They mean: “I need to make you think i am stronger than i really am” So………what do you do when a Dirty Downer Do-er strikes?????????????? Read Part Two later this week which starts with Ten things you can do to respond to a psyche out-er! Wayne Goldsmith

The Champions on Your Side

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Resistance is the enemy to great work, says author Steve Pressfield. But with enemies come allies. Consider, who and what will push you through the dips and help you do the work that matters.

Here’s an excerpt from Do the Work about the champions on your side:

1. Stupidity

2. Stubbornness

3. Blind faith

4. Passion

5. Assistance (the opposite of Resistance)

6. Friends and family

Stay Stupid

The three dumbest guys I can think of: Charles Lindbergh, Steve Jobs, Winston Churchill. Why? Because any smart person who understood how impossibly arduous were the tasks they had set themselves would have pulled the plug before he even began.

Ignorance and arrogance are the artist and entrepreneur’s indispensable allies. She must be clueless enough to have no idea how difficult her enterprise is going to be—and cocky enough to believe she can pull it off anyway.

How do we achieve this state of mind? By staying stupid. By not allowing ourselves to think.

A child has no trouble believing the unbelievable, nor does the genius or the madman. It’s only you and I, with our big brains and our tiny hearts, who doubt and overthink and hesitate.

Don’t think. Act.

We can always revise and revisit once we’ve acted. But we can accomplish nothing until we act.

Be Stubborn

Once we commit to action, the worst thing we can do is to stop.

What will keep us from stopping? Plain old stubbornness.

I like the idea of stubbornness because it’s less lofty than “tenacity” or “perseverance.” We don’t have to be heroes to be stubborn. We can just be pains in the butt.

When we’re stubborn, there’s no quit in us. We’re mean. We’re mulish. We’re ornery.

We’re in till the finish.

We will sink our junkyard-dog teeth into Resistance’s ass and not let go, no matter how hard he kicks.

Blind Faith

Is there a spiritual element to creativity? Hell, yes.

Our mightiest ally (our indispensable ally) is belief in something we cannot see, hear, touch, taste, or feel.

Resistance wants to rattle that faith. Resistance wants to destroy it.

There’s an exercise that Patricia Ryan Madson describes in her wonderful book, Improv Wisdom. (Ms. Madson taught improvisational theater at Stanford to standing-room only classes for twenty years.) Here’s the exercise:

Imagine a box with a lid. Hold the box in your hand. Now open it.

What’s inside?

It might be a frog, a silk scarf, a gold coin of Persia. But here’s the trick: no matter how many times you open the box, there is always something in it.

Ask me my religion. That’s it.

I believe with unshakeable faith that there will always be something in the box.

Passion

Picasso painted with passion, Mozart composed with it. A child plays with it all day long.

You may think that you’ve lost your passion, or that you can’t identify it, or that you have so much of it, it threatens to overwhelm you. None of these is true.

Fear saps passion.

When we conquer our fears, we discover a boundless, bottomless, inexhaustible well of passion.

Assistance

We’ll come back to this later. Suffice it to say for now that as Resistance is the shadow, its opposite—Assistance—is the sun.

Friends and Family

When art and inspiration and success and fame and money have come and gone, who still loves us—and whom do we love?

Only two things will remain with us across the river: our inhering genius and the hearts we love.

In other words, what we do and whom we do it for.

Thought for the day…

“If I’d asked my customers what they wanted, they’d have said a faster horse.”  – Henry Ford.