I simply love that I went into The Odyssey last night having absolutely no idea who the cast was.
Zendaya as Athena.
Of course she was.
It’s more than just the cast. I didn’t know about the movie until it was almost out of theaters. Getting tickets to see it in IMAX was slim pickings.
We might have been away from home on an eleven-week trip in our Airstream. But, it’s not like we were vacationing off the grid. My wife and I were working the entire trip, connected to social media civilization by Starlink and 5G.
Not knowing about all the hype surrounding the movie by Christopher Nolan was telling, in and of itself, about how our lifestyles shifted in nature.
I’m 53 and I’ve returned home healthier than I’ve ever been. The evidence is objective.
Yesterday I did a 45 mile bike ride before going out to eat sushi with my family before going to see a three-hour epic film. I was over salted, Twizzlered, and in bed later than usual. That’s not a recipe for a record setting day on the bike.
But that’s just what happened this morning. I set off on twenty-mile loop that I’ve been tracking on Strava since August 25, 2021. Wow! Five years. Nearly to the day.
The fastest I’ve ever done that loop was on that day, averaging 14.3 miles per hour. I’ve matched it a few times since.
Today, on a shifted sleep schedule after a very full Sunday:15.0 miles per hour.
If you’re into cycling. That’s a big gap.
This is the second time since being home that I eclipsed a previous cycling record. I’m not getting any younger.
So what’s going on?
It’s so many things.
Everything we lived during that eleven weeks was something we have been practicing for years.
So when I say we did things differently on the trip, it’s more like, we turned the dial up on things Abby and I have been elevating slowly and steadily over our eleven years together.
It’s the food we eat, prioritizing whole foods from local farms and farmstands.
It’s emphasizing movement, strength, endurance, and flexibility either through daily living (hiking in the mountains) or exercising (a Peloton workout at home).
It’s getting good rest.
It’s spending time with loved ones.
It’s our relationship with social media.
Social media is part of our world. How we engage with it matters. Whatever we did while we were in The Finger Lakes of New York, The Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, The Northeast Atlantic border of Maine, Southern New Hampshire, and Western Maryland…, we must have been doing something right.
Eclipsing a five-year-old cycling record.
Oblivious to The Odyssey.
Together, they tell a story.
In the Odyssey, Odysseus warns his crew that they should not go to the island where the Sun God’s cattle graze. They protest, claiming they have the willpower to leave the cattle alone while finding other sources of food. They kept their promise, for a long time. But eventually, they broke down.
They feasted on the cattle.
This is the lesson.
So long as the temptation is there, humans will break down. This is why there’s a whole category of products that prevent us from going to the social media island.
People pay hard earned money for this!
Indeed. My mother taught me as a young man. The best way to stay faithful to a woman is to simply not go to the island of female temptation.
While spending time in nature this summer, our lifestyle was simply one that minimized our time on the Social Media God’s island. There was no need for a Brick.
Discovering The Odyssey upon returning to Raleigh was a delightful surprise.
Even better. This morning when Abby said, “You know what? I think you and Matt Damon kind of look alike.”
“Say what, now?”
“I mean, he’s aging like you’re aging.”
Compliment accepted.
Thank you for reading.
Health, happiness, kindness, respect
for every being and all things.
— Andrew
Written on TK. Published on Medium & Substack.
DiMeo Unfiltered is my back of the napkin publication featuring half-baked concepts, works in progress, blog-like posts, and personal opinions. This space is raw, authentic, and self-published.
© 2026 Andrew J. DiMeo, Sr. All rights reserved. Permission granted to share with attribution.
So... you liked the Odyssey? We'll see it late Sept if still open here, otherwise I'll wait for the streaming to start.