The Entropy Hotel

why the name?

Once upon a time, my front hall closet was an organized place, a place with hooks on the sides and a bar across the back and even a shelf with baskets arrayed on it for storage. But it didn’t stay like that. A bag that was supposed to go on a hook ended up on the floor. Shoes and boots got kicked off into the closet instead of being neatly placed in those super-cool trays you get from IKEA. Coats that came off of hangers went back onto overcrowded hooks instead. Before long, the closet became a mess, a disaster, a testament to the inevitable process of deterioration that is life. The closet became what I call the entropy hotel. This, I tell myself, is where we keep the entropy.

I’ve always been someone who loves sports and, more than that, who likes to have some sort of goal to train for. A marathon, a rowing race, a big hike, a bike race. The goal events themselves are important (sometimes you even get a medal!). But it’s the training I love best. The big event itself is (usually) over in a matter of hours. Training is the thing you get to do day after day. It’s where you get to test yourself and give some shape to your ambitions, even when life can feel overwhelming. Training towards a goal is my way of fighting back against entropy.

And so I go from goal to goal, training plan to training plan. The great uphill athlete Killian Jornet has said that for him, training is more important than competition. I agree. It’s the regular experience of setting and meeting a goal, the regular experience of testing to see if you can achieve x or y—that’s what matters. Or, at least, that’s what I enjoy.

So The Entropy Hotel will involve monthly posts about my experiences with these challenges I’m undertaking. The challenges are not always very grand (I’m just a middle-aged woman who likes the outdoors), and they’re not always even successful. But I’m trying, and that’s the fun part. I hope you join me and have some fun reading what I write.