Areas in life I think I’ve peaked at: from Mural Making to Sketchbook Keeping… and why I keep trying anyway
When googling “merriam webster one’s peak” the pull quote highlighted by google states: “summit, peak, pinnacle, climax, apex, acme, culmination mean the highest point attained or attainable. summit implies the topmost level attainable. at the summit of the Victorian social scene. peak suggests the highest among other high points. an artist working at the peak of her powers”. Upon reading this pull quote, not even clicking into the article… I chose not to research any further. For that matched the definition in my head, and -wow- could this whole article be about the merits of googling and how the algorithm works, but alas that is not where I want this to go… If you’re still following, and I hope you are, dear reader, I am writing about areas in my life and schooling where I think, hope, and fear that I have peaked, or in other words found the highest point attained or attainable.
Oh and then I also couldn’t resist returning to my googling and learning more about Google’s featured snippets and how they work. If you too are interested please refer to the below documentation:
Wow, really did not think I would fall down that rabbit hole, but yes back to the topic at hand… finding an area in one’s life where they could surmise something to the effect of, “hey, I think that was the best I could have done or ever hope to achieve in that area” or in other words “I’ve peaked at _____, xyz”.
And so, I will now lay out a few areas (i.e. skills, hobbies, talents of sorts… etc) in which I believe I have peaked in my 30 years on this fine planet [earth].
- Mural Painting — I really truly believe I have reached my peak in this area and I will now explain why:
I’ve joked about this to many different people as I pass the restaurant Taiim in my small town — “see those murals?” I’ll say, “I made them in High School and that was my ‘muralling’ peak”. And then I came back in 2019, said this, and the new owners offered to have me paint a new mural! (still though, the muralling peak hall of fame for me rests in 2011 with the chickpeas that look like peaches and a soccer player on the adjacent wall). It was my peak in mural-making, that I claim, because it meant a random gig my High School art teacher offered me in my town and free falafel whenever I worked on it, it meant recognition of my artistic abilities.
2. Sketchbook Keeping — (see attached FB Reel) in the summer of 2011, I managed to fill one whole Moleskine sketchbook. Now maybe this doesn’t sound like too big a feat to you… but I believe it to be a triumph — to fill each page and, while all unique, each a strong piece in its own right. And yes I still also keep sketchbooks to this day, they just do not compete with my summer 2011 sketchbook — it is in its own lane and for that I claim it to be my peak Sketchbook Keeping.
3. Peak Documentary Making — 2010 for my 12th grade Anthropology class with Mr. Hunt. My youngest brother reported home from Middle School that there was a new “Bee Sticker” policy for “Bee-ing good” and red tape down the center of the hallway in his school. Me and two classmates investigated… my brothers and his Middle School pals playing starring roles. The Middle School sincerity, sort of “failure” of this bee-program, and soundtrack revolving around songs having to do with “walking” and “lines” or “Walk This Way” led to a smashing success. Over 20 years ago and I am unsure I will ever top it. Nor am I actively trying to, honestly. Like a spark in the pan. An iMovie success as I’ll ever have one.
4. Peanut Butter & Banana Sandwich Making — now I cannot give you an exact year on this one, but as I’ve completely halted this venture as of late I am assured that I have peaked (and it may in fact be all down hill from here on out).
5. Knitting a scarf — I did it once, it had some holes… but yeah I feel complete and do not feel the need to repeat. I am just not a knitter. However am I actively pursuing other fiber arts at this exact moment? Whose to say… yes… the answer is yes. So maybe it’s too early to fully call relatively frumpy hole-y scarf my magnum opus in the knitting a scarf arena of life…
6. Peak Artist’s Website that I’ve built from scratch — Post Malone for his 24-Carrot Album. Not much to say here. It was not my design. Just a Wordpress site I made and the first one where a Bootstrap layout with 12 columns worked perfectly. It was just a really fun build, from bottom up, and even included a nifty navigation animation on mobile. Just a well-done and directed site I enjoyed making and since I do not work in the music world since leaving this job, I do believe it is most likely my best work in this genre. But it would be cool if I could one day top this…
7. Running 600 meters around a track. My track days are over and I really cannot even remember what my best time was… 2 minutes 15 seconds has a nice ring to it… but I really am not sure if that’s right. Anyway, definitely reached my peak in this in HS. Positively sure of it.
I could probably keep going, naming things I may or may not have leveled to the top of my leveling abilities, alas, 7 is a grand number. And maybe it is time to give myself more credit. For, perhaps there are a lot of areas wherein the best is yet to come. The peak is off in the distance. Waiting to be summited. And gosh darn-it if another mural-ling opportunity graces my path, I will approach it in turn and hope I am wrong about my “peaking” in this area in High School… but if I am right and that indeed was my peak well I would still be happy and I think at the end that’s what matters — being happy to have a achieved it at all. And to keep trying even if the best is behind you because who knows what the future holds — perhaps even a new and better peak in the horizon.
