Free Fitness Movement. All you need to do is show up!
Ma! Did you see me on the news today? I mean, I was a little surprised and taken aback, because they didn’t give us a heads up…
But it’s funny because we’re always saying, “just show up.” No registration, no preparation, no nothing. Just ready to work. And just as the news did, so did the tribe.
Lauren’s 11th birthday party invitation, the first letter home from camp your parents received, Daniel’s Bar Mitzvah invitation, a birthday card from your uncle across the country, Grandma’s Christmas ode to her favorite grandchild, wedding invitations, baby announcements, and good ol’ thank-you-notes. There’s something magical about writing and receiving a physical, hand-written letter, especially in the modern era of instant connection via text, email, and social media; the effort to put down one’s phone and put 3rd grade handwriting practice to use, the absence of autocorrect, and the transfer of words from the soul to the paper. We all know how exciting it is to find a personal piece of mail in the stack of credit card solicitations and zoo membership options, and yet how often are we actually writing to those important to us in our lives? For some of you, maybe it’s quite often, but for the rest of us, let’s get out there and live our best letter-writing lives again!
Receiving the Positivity Award was very much needed as I was heading to South Lake Tahoe for my fitness competition. I have never tried my hand at body building until now and I was experiencing a lot of stress, doubt, and anxiety leading up to the competition. But, despite all of that, the members of November Project encouraged, supported, and motivated me through it. Like I said, receiving the positivity award came at the right time, because it was what I needed to push through the last few days until my competition.
So inspired by that, we hosted an Avengers workout today.
Here’s the inspirational shit. Sure, we played around pretending like we saved the world. But in many ways, though we might not be saving the world, we really are changing lives… At each workout, we’re touching other lives with our high-fives, positivity, and encouragement. And you can’t possibly imagine the impact those tiny interactions can make.
Just like the Avengers. As one, you may be powerful, but as many, we’re unstoppable.
Be strong, tribe.
Love,
E
ANNOUNCEMENTS!
TONIGHT, NPSD Gear Swap at Garage Kitchen + Bar Downtown. Show up any time after 5 PM for happy hour, but the swap starts at 6!
SOUTHWEST COLLISION COURSE – Hype start NOW. Registration will open next month, but go check out the details and make sure you can be available!
I fell in love at November Project. I didn’t think it would happen, not like this, but it did. I knew it was possible and I was aware it was an option, but for others, not me. Then I changed my habit of the way I thought and my life changed with it. I fell in love with my life. Sounds super cheesy, I know, but I did.
You get out of life what you put into it and I started living in the now and along with doing that came a self realization of just how fucking fantastic my life is. A huge part of this is because of November Project. I was already a happy person but there is magic in our community that if you pay attention will present itself over and over again.
When I decided to make November Project a staple part of my life, I created a positive habit. Everything in life can be deduced to your habits. Negative self talk, is a habit, not working out is a habit, making excuses ….it’s a habit. Super simple. If you don’t like something about your life, change the habit. It is NOT always easy and it requires work, lots of work, but it can happen. I changed the habit of looking at my life a certain way and everything changed for the better along with it. The saying is true, sweat more and you’ll bitch less. I went from feeling alone at 38, 39, to finding myself at 40, now almost 41 with a life full of friendships and fun.
I have had my ears filled by many with their thoughts about November Project. Good and bad. But lets be real. The first thing I say to everyone is what attitude are you showing up with. You are the reason you are having a great time or a bad time. It’s all habits and choices. If you want to find a problem with something, you will. If you want to be excited about something, you will. It really is that simple. So get real with yourself and think about what you say. Words have power, choose them wisely. I toss that mirror up in my face too, don’t worry. To be a good person, you need to be self aware and honest with yourself when you slip and get ugly. And usually that’s all it is, someone in a bad place looking outward for an excuse to not take responsibility for how they are choosing to feel.
The reason November Project SD is held in such high regard is because of the people who #justshowup. The energy and magic among our tribe is so beautiful. I fucking love the shit out of you all. It is impossible to have a bad day after spending the morning with our tribe. You make me feel rich. Tell me you don’t smile ear to ear after seeing Tom’s excitement or feel special after getting a “good job” from Ang. Ugh, ALL THE FEELS.
Do you know how fucking good it felt to look back at pictures from last Wednesday and zoom in on all of your smiling faces. That was everything. I love you all for being so excited for me in that moment. There are no words. Thank you for accepting me and loving me. Thank you for acknowledging me with the Positivity Award. That was so fucking cool. My cup runneth over.
Boring Stuff…
We know most (all) of you had no idea what this Pumpkin Spices situation was all about. But it’s all good (we don’t care).
It’s actually an inside joke from this past weekend at the Meeting of the Minds, where 105 November Project Co-Leaders from across 49 different cities across 8 different countries gathered to connect, share ideas, and discuss the future of this MOVEMENT.
And just like this morning, it was a hell of a good time.
And just like this morning, it got weird and uncomfortable.
You see, while it’s an opportunity and quite the perk for us co-leaders to get together, do some camping, have a few laughs (and drinks), it’s also time for us to get down to issues – such as how we can crush it as a tribe, our continued growth, our non-profit status, and even talking about inclusivity, diversity, and how we can continue to become more welcoming as a tribe and individuals.
We won’t dig into it here, nor at a workout, but you need to know that these discussions don’t just stop at the co-leaders. These cities would not thrive and these tribes would not exist without YOU. So over the coming weeks, Shira and I are committed to ensuring you’re in the know. And we’re committing to creating space where you can ask us questions, dig in, and be a part of what we’re building.
We can’t do this without you. And that’s the nicest.
Be bright, NPSD.
Don’t forget some important announcements
Once a year, on an otherwise-ordinary Monday morning in the end of June or beginning of July, we ditch the black spray paint at November Project San Diego and break out a broader spectrum of colors for tagging. OK, so the six cans we use technically only represent a few discrete points along the visible color spectrum, and our elementary school art teachers are all shaking their heads at us because we don’t even honor the “I” in ROYGBIV, but I think we can all agree that those rainbow-tagged shirts look oh-so-fresh.
The stoke level is always high within the tribe to earn Pride #grassrootsgear, usually via a 5k (or sometimes 6k) race, and after having helped out with the tagging alongside some true NPSD heroines (special shout-outs to Audrey & S’Moers!) the last three years, each time seeing how excited y’all get for these shirts, I can say without a doubt that it is one of my favorite workouts to attend, even if I don’t get to run around with the rest of you crazies.
Colored spray paint. Some metal and wood stencils. A light-colored shirt of your choosing. Happy Pride! That’s all there is to it, right?
Wrong.
We all know that beyond the #freefitness, November Project’s ethos is heavily focused on building a welcoming and inclusive community. Workouts that are scalable and open to everyone are, of course, the means by which the foundation of that community is laid, but it extends well beyond our shared mornings at 6:29AM:
We race ECS and Ragnar events together. We get coffee together (and lots of it). We go camping and hiking and biking and swimming together. We support charities together. We experience love and loss, birth and death — life — together.
What starts with a good workout ends in a multitude of great new friendships, incredible memories, and open doors for growth in our individual and communal lives. All of this is available to each and every one of us, qualifier-free, if only we #justshowup ready to embrace all that NP has to offer. It’s why we call ourselves a tribe (see also: not not a cult) and ultimately, in many ways, the tribal and communal aspect of NP is too awesome to fully describe in a few-hundred word blog post. However, what can be pointed out here is that, at some point, it may become easy to take all of that awesomeness — that warmth, friendliness, encouragement, and love — for granted.
I’ll offer you first some Pride-related perspective on taking NP for granted and then, to bring it all full circle, a simple request for when you wear your Pride-tagged #grassrootsgear.
For members of our tribe who identify as LGBTQ+, I think we may have a slightly different take on how wonderful the feeling of acceptance is among a group of one-time strangers who are now lifelong friends. For us, that feeling may not always have been there in our lives, due to both external and internal reasons, such as where we grew up, our religion, what our family environment was like, or any number of other circumstances. Many of us have dealt with episodes of exclusion, or even hatred, on account of our sexual orientation or gender identity. At some point, many of us have even turned those same questions of self-worth and of place in the world against ourselves as part of the process of knowing, understanding, and accepting who we are. And for many of us, that process is still unfolding to this day.
As a whole, finding inclusion and acceptance has been something we and our allies have had to fight for, and while many battles have been won, there may yet be moments ahead where we’ll need to fight for and defend ourselves, with our allies at our sides, just as much as we ever have before.
Thankfully, and speaking personally, seldom in my life has there been a group like November Project within which I’ve felt 100% comfortable to be myself — a runner / cyclist / camper / hiker / photographer / enginerd… who also happens to identify as gay — from day one. This movement is about bringing all fitness abilities, all races, all ages, all sexual orientations and gender identities, all walks of life, all together, to first work out and then to use those good vibes to do something positive in the world. The sense of togetherness and welcomeness that this fitness community strives to achieve, acknowledging that we are more capable together on account of our diversity rather than in spite of it, is what truly makes November Project awesome.
So, in my mind, those Pride-tagged shirts are more than just a seasonally-appropriate wardrobe item for you to wear during this weekend’s festivities. They are symbolic of what November Project stands for as a safe space for anyone and everyone. They represent our collective commitment to love and to support each other for exactly who we are, or who we are intent on becoming. They reflect externally the unique vibrancy and diversity that we each contain within ourselves, and exemplify the entire spectrum of individuals that, when woven together through workouts, yields the colorful and strong fabric of our tribe.
So, about that request I mentioned earlier: when you don your Pride-tagged #grassrootsgear, let it remind you of how this movement makes you feel welcome, included, and loved for who you are, and that whether you identify as LGBTQ+ or as an ally, I’m glad you’re here.
Be bright, NPSD, and have a happy and safe Pride!
So show up next week. Come back with that work horse mindset. You don’t want to miss it.
A few things we don’t want you to miss:
But we want to take a week off of our normally scheduled soapbox blogging to inform you of some amazing, incredible things we have going on over the coming weeks.
So today, amongst all the burpees, high fives, and hills, we focused a little extra time to leave our mark. We brought out a bunch of markers and let you draw on a blank canvas anything you felt at that moment. The drawings were a mix of funny, bright, weird, and heartfelt. Each one adding to the collective, making our own unique art of US. It’s a poster that represents something near and dear to my heart – how you’ve all made such an impact on my life.
When I moved to San Diego from Wisconsin, I didn’t know a single person. While I loved the beaches and warm weather, there was always something missing. It wasn’t until I found November Project that I truly found my sense of home. It’s been a source for best friends, the love of my life, countless examples of inspiration and joy, and a community I know is always there for me. I hope today served as a reminder that we all make a wonderful mark on this tribe and on each other’s lives. I know you have all made a life changing mark on mine.
Have a bright and wonderful day!
Justin
VERY IMPORTANT THINGS