2020 has not been the easiest year, to say the least. But the love shared within this community has been apparent, and in many cases, tighter bonds have been formed. We’re so glad you’re here.
Thank you for taking the time to reflect with us, and for sharing some positive things that happened over the past 12 months. Here are a few highlights of our best shared memories, some of our achievements, the people who inspire us, and what we look forward to in the upcoming year – enjoy!
Favourite memories
SNOWGLOBE: Can you believe this multi-NP city event in Syracuse, NY happened in 2020?? This was definitely one of the highlights of this year, for many of us. The event involved: (i) crossing the border, (ii) gathering (in close proximity) with hundreds of old and new friends, and (iii) giving tons of high-fives and hugs. Whoa, what?! All of that! Just wild.
In addition to the good things that we all miss from the pre-pandemic days, this event was extra special because Jemal ice skated for the first time and discovered his legs could get sore (something running 30+ km has yet to teach him)!
SECRET SANTA: Okay so I realize we just jumped from January to December, skipping over all of 2020… but this event was so fun! Many of us gathered via Zoom to see each other wrap some of the most thoughtful / practical / hilarious gifts (or all of the above… just ask Ivan about his gift from Carrie)!
To be able to see everyone’s surprised and happy faces brought us so much joy. As Silvana said, events like these “are amazing because they make you feel like we’re still together, even if we’re apart“. Huge thank you to our Secret Santa elves Janick & Sydney for organizing this!
Backtracking to the rest of 2020… many months were grim and sometimes lonely, there’s no getting around that – but there were a ton of lovely memories that we shared. Especially during the months of lockdown, our community remained present and connected.
For some of us, our weekly virtual NP workout, or morning yoga with Janick (everyday, for 4 consecutive months!!!), was our only dose of social interaction during the week! We’re glad you stuck along with us, especially in those first few weeks, when we struggled to figure out how to effectively run a virtual workout. Having this community to turn to honestly meant so much, and kept many of us motivated… and sane.
BONUSES FOR LAURENT & DORA: To say co-leading in 2020 wasn’t a challenge, would be a lie… it is tough to lead workouts virtually, especially when our workouts were previously so heavily centered around hugs / high-fives and partner workouts. It sucked to see everyone feeling down about the lack of face-to-face interactions, to see everyone struggling (including ourselves) with morale.
But to see everyone check-in with each other frequently, sharing funny photos, encouraging each other with their daily fitness challenges, and just staying connected… it was rewarding to be able to help create a space for laughter (or I mean, “LOL”s or crying laughter emoji’s) and/or some healthy competition. And there were also some particular moments that the two of us remember especially dearly.
For Laurent, it was waking up to so many sweet and touching messages / pictures / videos on his birthday from the community at large! Talk about a way to start a day (and make everything after pale in comparison)!! And for Dora, it was tuning into daily yoga one morning (as an inconsistent non-yogi), and seeing how many people had been consistently practicing yoga together and connecting on a daily basis.
SO MUCH MORE: Looking back, there were so many more memories that we shared and brought us a sense of connectedness / camaraderie / joy. From kicking off the year with a NP workout on January 1st 2020 (which ended in a snowball fight!!!), to having tough but meaningful conversations relating to diversity, inclusion and respect together, to taking Yearbook Photos a few weeks ago (and seeing other NP members in real life, after being in lockdown for months)… thank you for being here, and for making our community what it is!
Inspirational members
We asked you if there had been a particular NP member that especially inspired you this year, and it was so cool to see many deserving names pop up. The most obvious one was Jose, who received both the Positivity Award AND the Cereal Award this year. Needless to say, his genuine kindness and presence has made such a positive impact on our community. We are thankful for his consistency, and for bringing his positive energy week after week.
We also wanted to highlight a few other deserving members of our community, who were brought up specifically:
- We mentioned this before, but this one deserves some extra attention… Janick organized daily group yoga for us EVERY SINGLE DAY for 4 consecutive months. So much dedication!
- Silvana crushed it as a guest leader for 2 weeks, and made dang sure that everyone’s rear ends would be on fire for days to come! What a superstar.
- Sydney, for being consistent not only with weekly NP workouts, but also with daily yoga and daily fitness challenges. And for welcoming new members to the group!
- Jason‘s easy-going personality and ready-for-action nature didn’t go unnoticed. His dedication to daily fitness challenges / Abvember was also inspirational!
- And speaking of Abvember… we must also give extra kudos to Marilú, who motivated everyone to continue their exercises everyday, when everyone was ready to give up.
- Peter, for living his life to the fullest
- Sophie, who is now a member of NP Chicago (because she’s brainy and brave, finished her M.Sc., and found a cool job that she relocated for!)
- And sooo much more!
Honestly, we are lucky to have so many inspirational members as part of our community (and even more who are not listed!), who are welcoming to newcomers and who encourage others to continue showing up. And we also have the most appreciative members – many of you also recognized me and Laurent, and that truly means the world. We appreciate all of you, and are grateful for your kind words!
Proudest accomplishments
In addition to living through a pandemic, many of us also crushed some major fitness / health / life goals! Here are just a few:
- Sally, Amine, Jacobane, and Tom ran the Hypothermic half marathon in February! Talk about #WeatherProof!
- Oh also – Jacobane became a Canadian (we celebrated with a maple syrup shot at 7am)!
- Amine went on to WIN both the On Cours Montreal 2020 half marathon and Take The Bridge!
- Michelle, Ren, Virginia all crushed it at UTHC!
- Special shoutout to Michelle for finishing the 125K – for the THIRD time!
- Silvana worked up her fitness and managed to do 25 burpees without losing her breath (whoa!) AND can now do full splits with butt touching the floor!!
- Tina finished the year on a positive note, feeling healthy (physically and mentally!)
- Sydney wrote a book and sold 1200+ copies (whaaat?!)
- Laura has regained incredible strength post-hip fracture, is back to working out with us, and is slowly getting back into running
- Fauve & Flo welcomed their beautiful baby boy, Odie, into the world
And as a group, we celebrated our 4th year of #FreeFitness in Montreal last month! Huge thank you to Derek & Mila for starting the Projet Sweat Montreal (NP pledge group) back in November 2016, which became November Project Montréal in April 2017. The two of you created a wonderful community, and an invaluable space for all of us to connect. Many of us needed this community more than ever this year.
Looking ahead to 2021
Whether you come (virtually, for now) for a good workout, the people and their friendly smiles, the sense of community and connectedness, for your mental health, or for the great post-workout coffee chats – we are so grateful that you make the decision to wake up early, and #JustShowUp week after week.
There are lots of good things that many of us are anticipating in the upcoming year. We look forward to setting new goals and creating more space for growth. We hope to improve both our physical and mental fitness, to recover from injury (wishing Sally, Janick & Nico speedy and full recoveries!), and to continue to be a part of NP Montréal.
We hope that in 2021, we can give each other hugs and/or high-fives in-person. Until then, stay safe and thank you for being here.
Share via socials:
