Tag: Women Paddler

Motivation Tips for an Active Life

Priscilla McKenney

Today, a good friend who wants to be more active, asked me, “how do you stay motivated with training?”I responded with this reflection. Five years ago, you would not have found me rising by 5:30am to get an early morning work out before going to work. I would do it later in the day and sometimes skip it because I was too tired after work. Now I do get up early and prioritize my workout that I regard as self care. Currently, almost everyday, I start my day with either…

Adventures Beyond Cookies: Crumbling the Girl Scout Stereotype

Priscilla McKenney

“In the late 1960s, as a school-age girl and tomboy, my experience with Girl Scouts was short lived. My troop leader was interested in teaching us crochet and macaroni art when I wanted to get outdoors, camp, hike, and do what the boys were doing. I was seeking “something with a little swagger in it.” I crossed the bridge from Brownies to Cadets to never return until surprisingly, decades later, after having pursued a long career in outdoor adventure education. In 2011, I arrived at Girl Scouts of Northern California…

Curve Balls: A Lesson in Self Care

Priscilla McKenney

Over the past two months, I have been tending to an inflamed cornea in my left eye, related to my Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), that was triggered by the smoke from the Napa/Sonoma County fires, north of San Francisco. I have had eye related flare ups two other times in recent years. My first eye incident was in spring of 2013. I was preparing to depart for a long awaited ocean paddle training camp in Hawaii. I had to cancel. I had an infected ulcer on my retina that was serious.…