If you are (1) going to Summit 5.0 (2) getting pumped up for the workout Wednesday (3) reading the NP blog for the first time ever, here’s a fre$h jam to get yourself in the mood:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TorsBMGCoMs&t=654s
Now that you’re all set, strap in.
Summit 5.0 is this weekend. If you’re going, pack accordingly. Here’s the forecast for Wachusetts:
And for Boston:
Are we excited, you ask? H-E-double hockey stick. YES. Like the dog that is staying with you for the weekend and upon entering a new and exciting home, pees on the floor, runs around in a few circles, and then poops. We are that excited. Mainly because you’ll be there either physically with us, or in spirit.
No information will be shared here re: Summit, mainly because most of it is secret and then we’d have to kill you, or because your travel plans are different from literally everyone else going. But we will say: Friday workout is at Harvard Stadium (taking it back to the birthplace, the actual spot where NP’s mama pushed little ol’ NP Boston out of her birth canal) and Saturday’s (and Sunday if you’re insane) races are at Wachusetts mountain. Oh, and there’s some big ol’ party at The Lawn on D. I think that stands for Danger, because Saturday night is going to be dangerously rad.
And now that you’re thoroughly excited or suffering from a serious case of FOMO, here’s a little reflection on the blog. Is this blog-ception? Maybe.
Back when I was an NP youngster (aka a whole year and five months ago), I would get back from a workout feelin’ some sort of way – a mix of absolutely gassed, uncomfortable having everyone’s sweat all over me, a little relieved because I had to pump myself for each workout (I was intimidated by all of the people who knew each other so well), and also euphoric because I had just felt a whole lot of feelings that I couldn’t quite express. So instead of talking again about it to my roommate and boring her to death (since she hadn’t ever experienced NP), I would turn on Behind Closed Doors by Otis McDonald and read THE NOVEMBER PROJECT BLOG.
The coolest thing about the blog was seeing that not only were my feelings validated, but also that everyone else felt the same way. And more. Go visit another tribe and all you’ll find is that there’s this intangible aura about November Project that you can reach for, try to describe, but somehow, despite being unable to explain it, you know you feel it. And so does everyone around you. It’s kind of like a little four letter word we all know and are sometimes grateful for, sometimes afraid of… LOVE.
Love and November Project go hand in hand like peanut butter and jelly, humidity and chafing, a runny nose and the perfect snot rocket, and Cards Against Humanity and peeing a little bit from laughing. There is so much love to be shared, but the feeling and the giving of it is so hard to write down. The only way to fully express it is in the action of it: giving it freely, receiving it from other people, and allowing it to bring you closer to the people around you.
It’s encouraging, especially when you’re a fresh newbie in love with love and with November Project, to hear how much others love it. And that is one reason why the blog is here. There are only so many people in your tribe. Yes, have conversations about your favorite parts of NP, the things that terrify you (like running PR day), that one girl you think is absolutely adorable and fast and is totally your type, and what you’re doing this weekend. But step outside your tribe, and be inspired by what other cities are doing. Look at the bottom of a blog post from San Diego and read the name of the leader. Send them a message on Facebook. Ask them about their lives.
We are electronically connected so that it makes physical connections more possible. Without the internet, we wouldn’t have been able to spread the movement as rapidly and unexpectedly and implausibly as we have. Kiss your computer screen, click on a NP city you have never heard of or want to visit, and be inspired. Yes, the internet can be a time suck. But in this case, when you read the blog, you’re practicing your reading skills (stay sharp out there, people), you’re learning about other tribes, and you’re validating your own emotions.
That is what I like to call therapy.
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