Stumped by Nature

Welcome to this issue of Stumped by Nature, where we notice nature lurking just beyond our screens, curate a list of outside-y events in Austin, and build community with other folks in the thick of the startup ecosystem.

In this week’s issue:

🏃‍♂️‍➡️ A modern misogi

🔌 SXSW resources

🌤️ Upcoming outdoors events

🚙 Adventures just beyond Austin

Let’s dig in!

-Nicole

PS. To whom it may concern: Athena the Owl is back at the Wildflower Center, and she’s laid two eggs. At the first sign of owlet(s), we’re going on a field trip to see her. Mentally prepare for that impending Luma.

PPS. Our community is rolling. Two current ways to play along:

PROGRAMMING NOTE

I’m a big fan of collaboration, and have additional event ideas percolating.

I’m seeking your input on how to prioritize. Note: this poll is not multi-select, so pick your favorite, and feel free to email me with additional thinking.

NATURE SPOTLIGHT

Some experiences don’t fully metabolize until you put language to them.

And so, we continue our Misogi Series.

Misogi: an intentional nature-based quest, often at moments of transition. It’s chosen suffering that releases what’s no longer serving and returns you to daily life slightly more integrated than you left it.

I asked for your stories. They’re arriving. The common themes: 1. they’re excellent 2. they’re disproportionately coming from people named Andrew.

I like it. If you’re an Andrew/a, my inbox is open for details of your quest.

If you’re not, you’re invited to try to break into the Andrew contingent.

Today, we’re treated to a journey by Andrew Overby, who is into software project management and operations by day, and is an Austin community builder and connector by evening. And apparently, he runs at every other conceivable moment—he’s a powerhouse.

Here’s his story:

What did this quest involve, practically?

This quest involved doing a 100 km trail race in early 2026 in the Texas Hill Country.

What was happening in your life when the misogi emerged? Set the scene with context.

To set the scene, I have to talk about my entire year: This is a milestone birthday year for me, one I have deliberately sought to mark with adventures, challenges, and accomplishment of goals I'll recall with pride for a lifetime.

Small tangent: This milestone year kicked off by celebrating the occasion of my birthday in earnest for the first time in my adult life. I wanted to start with a bang. That's the tone of my year:

With that in mind, one of the challenges/accomplishments I decided to seek out was running this 100-kilometer ultramarathon (62 miles).

Why this, and not something else?

I wanted a series of grand challenges that would be physically daunting and psychologically demanding. I knew this would be difficult and strenuous, and that's why I did it. I saw those as not only positive, but truly desirable.

Now that you have some distance, what was this all about?

This was about standing in a storm and not flinching when water hits my face.

This was an opportunity to practice drawing strength from suffering and soreness.

This was about reaffirming the kind of man I want to be and how I want to move through life.

I want the achievements of my life to look incredible, even almost unbelievable, in the end.

What felt more true after?

Achieving grand goals works, as a practice.

It doesn't matter whether it's fitness or something else. It's true for me and for everyone--you will be impressed with yourself, you will earn your own respect, when you set out to accomplish things wildly ambitious or frightfully hard. You will give your ancestors something to sing about.

What didn’t change as you did this?

The amount of work required. There are no shortcuts in the end. You have to pay the price for whatever you want to achieve. There's no negotiating it away, or deferring it for later, or delegating it to someone else. Grand goals demand intense accountability and lay bare any shortchanging you try to get away with.

Did anyone misunderstand what you were doing in a way that stuck with you?

I got a lot of incredulous looks--most people didn't really understand why I'd choose to do this. They immediately appreciated it would be difficult and require a lot of effort. They saw this as something to turn away from. I saw the sacrifice required as validation.

What’s a detail/mindset/thought/outcome that you’d like to share?

I believe in stacking evidence to remove self-doubt, and I believe that regularly reminding yourself how tough you are is a good thing.

I believe that inspiring toughness in yourself makes weathering life easier.

I believe in often finding opportunities to practice discipline, fitness, focus, and toughness. It's simply not possible to doubt you can do something when you have already done it. I know I'm capable of doing things I can be proud of like running ultras, starting businesses, traveling alone around the world, and creative writing because I only have to remember doing them. It gives me confidence and self-satisfaction to know adversity can activate me. Whatever life throws at me is probably not going to faze me

What would you encourage others to copy?

Two things:

One, I would encourage setting grand goals that require you to hit milestones along the way: I really enjoy how setting an audacious goal can mean achieving ambitious things that would be cool in their own right but become sub-plots and sub-goals in the pursuit of that still-more-difficult, grander pursuit. In the way that I used shorter 50km and 67 km trail races as my training long runs for the 100km experience, this 100km too is a springboard for the next goals on my list. :)

Two, I actively think about achieving bucket list things--eulogy goals, in my life--and think about doing them in a practical, how-to sense. A goal without a timeline is hoping in vain. Many people I know keep a fanciful list in their heads of things they want to do...someday, a day that never comes. Eulogy goals are for now, not later.

Thank you, Andrew Overby, for sharing your misogi!

PSA

So, it’s SX

Quick soap box: Y’all founders looking to raise-I highly recommend some fresh air between pitch convos.

Remember that SXSW can be whatever we want it to be, so we might as well make it fun.

Example: my SX 2025 experience—

I had one notable, wild success.

I networked my way into a philosophy club.

This accomplishment has led to

1. curated readings, a pocket of curious thinkers, excellent conversations, and a layer of intellectual nourishment I’d been missing

2. meeting my pal Corrinne, whose advice on cut flower gardens is why I’m pulling fistfuls of beautiful blooms out of my garden daily

I had one notable, cautionary tale.

When you sign up for a Founder Run Club with an “easy pace,” it’s best to ask a few questions before assuming that your regular 5k on a treadmill during HIIT workouts will translate to the road, or if, say, everyone there would be Andrew Overby-types.

Many thanks to the D1 athlete-turned-influencer who hung to the back of the pack to monitor my survival.

And many thanks to the people who now host walks or rucks so I can grasp some small shreds of dignity while moving throughout the world.

With that said, here are some curated SXSW lists, to use with your best discernment:

UPCOMING EVENTS

🗓️ March 13: 2nd Annual Hill Climbers SXSW Ride

🗓️ March 13: Pitch & Run

🗓️ March 13: Best. Tour. Ever Marc Nathan’s hosting this walk and talk

🗓️ March 13: Stargazing 101 at Veteran’s Memorial Park

🗓️ March 14: 5k Run/Walk with founders/investors/operators/innovators

🗓️ March 14: Kids Plant Class: focusing on herbs and veggies

🗓️ March 14: Irish Festival at Mozart’s

🗓️ March 14: The Board Walks Walk and talk

🗓️ March 14-22: Dino Days at Zilker Botanical Gardens: easy choice for Spring Break

🗓️ March 15: Malin’s Birthday at Pease Park. Malin is the troll art installation by Thomas Dambo, and she’s turning 2.

🗓️ March 15: Walk & Talk: Deep Conversations in Motion

🗓️ March 16: Astronomy on Tap at Celis

🗓️ March 17 Bike Night at COTA with a St. Patrick’s Day Theme

🗓️ March 17: Dig it! Gardening in Texas: Tea!

🗓️ March 18: Music on the Trail Series at the Rainey Street Trailhead lawn

🗓️ March 18: Golden-Cheeked Warbler Workshop IYKYK

🗓️ March 19: Austin Ruck Club: Loaner rucks available!

🗓️ March 24: Linocut Printmaking 101: with a bunch of nature-tangential buddies. I’m co-hosting this!

JUST OUTSIDE OF AUSTIN

🚙 March 13: Star Party at Westcave Outdoor Discovery Center

🚙 March 13: Gyotaku: Japanese Fish Painting at Inks. Please send me photos

🚙 March 14 : Intro to Permaculture Milking Goats: It’s a hands-on class

🚙 March 14: Archery in the Park: You’re going to need to sign a waiver

🚙 March 14: Youth Beekeepers Year End Presentation: So Vista Brewing has an apiary + hosts a Youth Scholarship program. The Youth are going to educate us.

🚙 March 15: Hike like a Geologist See E Rock with ancient eyes

🚙 March 15: Intro to Fly Fishing: including intros to knots, tippets, leaders, et. al

🚙 Weekends through April 19: Sherwood Forest Faire: Grab some kettle corn, take your kids to the fairy tea party, and mourn with me that my favorite juggler, Paolo Garbanzo, is off leading a medieval castle tour and won’t be eating an onion on stage this year.

LOCAL FARMERS’ MARKETS

👩‍🌾 Arboretum Food & Artisan Market Saturdays 11am-3pm

👩‍🌾 Barton Creek Farmers Market Saturdays 9am-1pm

👩‍🌾 Domain Farmers Market Sundays 12pm-4pm

👩‍🌾 Lakeline Farmers Market Saturdays 9am-1pm

👩‍🌾 SFC Farmers’ Market Downtown Saturdays 9am-1pm

👩‍🌾 SFC Farmers’ Market Sunset Valley Saturdays 9am-1pm

👩‍🌾 Texas Farmers’ Market at Bell Saturdays 9am-1pm

👩‍🌾 Texas Farmers’ Market at Mueller Sundays 10am-2pm

That’s all for this week! 

In the meantime, I hope you incrementally work your way into a life you’re proud of fully living.

-Nicole

OPTIONAL SIDE QUESTS

🪵 Are you looking for a community of people in the startup ecosystem who go outside together? I’ve got you.

🪵 Are you sitting on a misogi-esque story? Spill.

🪵 Do you need to commission a writer? I’m happy to discuss projects that might make me cry in public/funnel my experiential/existential dread into essays like this one.

🪵 Is this newsletter not your vibe? Forward it to your enemies to make them suffer too.

💰It’s safe to assume there are affiliate links, and I’ll monetarily benefit from any purchases you make. Hooray, capitalism! So far, this newsletter has generated $3.46 of cold hard cash. 💸