Gotham Archery in Brooklyn

Sometimes the weekend is upon you, and your usual plans of dinner or a movie or whatever the norm is just won’t cut it. And friends, in preparation for when this time comes, I submit to you: indoor archery. 

A few weeks ago, while looking for a unique way to celebrate our friend’s birthday, Jordan suggested we go to Gotham Archery in Brooklyn. I’d never heard of the place, and archery was the last thing on my mind when it came to “fun ways to spend a Friday night.” But I’m so glad he suggested it, because our group of friends had a fantastic time. Gotham Archery is in a large converted warehouse, and you can show up with no archery experience at all. We reserved our session by phone, and as we waited for it to begin, we kept busy with the classic games they had on hand, like Jenga and Connect 4. Once our session started, our instructors walked us through the ins and outs and safety techniques, and we went to work with our fancy compound bows. A purple one for me seemed about right. You might also notice my fancy pink eye patch!Our instructors were super passionate about archery. One of them told me completely straight-faced that he feels where the arrow will land before he releases the bow. Whoa, that’s deep, my brotha. I was tempted to ask if his archery was preceded by any weed smoking. But all in all, this made the night even more fun and interesting.

And truth be told, I had a somewhat deep moment while taking aim and releasing my arrows. A key part of having a great shot is that after you draw the arrow all the way back to your mouth, you simply release your fingers and let the arrow fly. If you try to guide the arrow, you’re guaranteed to send the arrow off target. And at first, this simple action — of not doing anything, of just releasing and letting go — was really hard for me. While I knew intellectually that it wasn’t what I was supposed to do, it took time and effort to trust that I really could, and should, just release and let things fly. I wondered what other areas of my life — in marriage, in parenting, in my career, in maintaining our home — need more letting go?

Check out Robin from the ‘Hood, y’all… :-)So if you’re in NYC, Gotham Archery is calling — whether it’s for a fun outing, a special occasion (apparently Jordan’s friend had a baby shower there, which I think is absolutely amazing), or you just want to live out your favorite scene from The Hunger Games (the Olympian who taught Jennifer Lawrence how to shoot even teaches workshops there). Try something different, and don’t forget to “let go.”