American Parkour

Last night I had a strange, vivid dream, and I thought I'd post it because, although I don't usually read much into dreams, during my training today I noticed it had relevance to my attitude toward parkour.
In the dream, I was in a strange colorless city where scary (demonic) faces appeared to morph out of objects, like walls and traffic lights. So if you were looking at something it would suddenly leer back at you.
I seemed to have a knowledge of this world even though I haven't had any dreams like this before; for example, I knew that it followed certain rules of physics the real world didn't, and that things left lying around in this city (like trash) tended to mutate into some sort of monsters. Also, I think I was with other people, because another 'rule' of this city was that everyone had to move around in pairs, almost as if they were linked to someone else while there. I can't remember so much now, but gravity seemed arbitrary, working in some places and moon-like in others. The most important thing about it, though, was that it was a scary place, custom-designed to frighten me.
The ending of the dream took place in a large underground area, possibly a subway station (in between the tracks) but I'm not sure. In the middle there was a dark beast with horns or something that was larger than the small scary faces I had seen earlier around the city, and standing on its own, not out of an object. I think I remember walking closer and closer to it trying to see it clearer, and when I was close to it, it disappeared. I was left standing on my own, and somehow I remember 'knowing' that the beast had never 'been' there in the first place.

Thanks for reading all that anyway I talked about it with my dad, but I don't think i really fully understood the dream until I was drilling monkey vaults this afternoon. I was trying to clear a VERY small wall and couldn't believe I was actually hesitating to vault it, since it was about knee-high. I felt an annoying reflex slow me down or stop me every time I approached it at a run. Suddenly, though, I remembered the demons that peeked out of inanimate objects in my nightmare. It sounds kind of new-age to say this, but I think that dream was pretty deep. The demons didn't represent the city's dangers or evils at all, but the demons of my own inner world--my fears. Ordinarily our little fears hide somewhere at the backs of our minds, but in parkour we are forced to not only acknowledge and confront them, but to overcome them. The fact that I didn't fight or run away from the 'boss' demon in the subway station, but just tried to understand it better, is probably a good way of dealing with fear in parkour.

ps. And I did manage to monkey that knee-high wall btw  It felt pathetically awesome, but soon I'll move up to the chess table in the courtyard, I know I will

I think a lot of us here have motivation issues (I know I do) and one of the ways I've found to force yourself to train diligently is to have a role model. Now, all the boys wanna be David and Sabastien, but girls need someone to look up to, too. I think it's even more important for us to know there are strong women in parkour who came before us, actually...
Anyway right now I'm really jealous of Kat of the Monos Urbanos group from Mexico.
Here are a couple videos in which she pwns obstacles just as good as any traceur:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hrYLdLHYcs&feature=related
http://monosurbanos.com/tecnicas/videotutoriales/vt6.htm
My other role model, unrelated to parkour, is Anna Tsuchiya. She's the only chick rock I ever listen to, and in every video her hair is a different color or something. Listening to "Slap That Naughty Body" and "Lucy" just gets me fired up to vault rails.

Hi everybody. I haven't been here in months! This is not due to my giving up PK, not at all. Recently I've started really improving my lazies, mostly thanks to Ozzi's great tutorial on the subject, and now I'm even learning the right-handed one surprisingly easily ! (I'm a lefty) Also, I've been training precisions as well as doing general body conditioning. No, I haven't given up, it's just that I've downloaded so many great instructional videos that I don't need to ask n00b questions here that much (though I still will occaisioanaly). But this question has nothing to do with any of that.
Has anyone here done City Year?
I'm seriously considering it for next year, despite the demanding commitment...and not just for the free T-mobile phone and red jacket. I'd rather work with kids and communities than a lot of the job options open to me right now, but I'm just not sure since I've never really volunteered before...and my chosen career is in art and journalism. I figure I'll need a day job anyway, and City Year on my resume will help me get seasonal work as a coach or counselor.
Anyway, any advice would be helpful. Thanks.

Yeah, tried to jump over benches with my friend yesterday. Today I have a knee bruise, and I waited too long to remember R.I.C.E. What's in your personal first-aid kit in regards to scrapes, cuts, bruises, muscle pain etc.? I might as well stock up on that stuff now. I prefer herbal-derived (such as arnica, always did wonders for me but we ran out  ) to steroids or painkillers.