Ben is a guy. Ben is a good guy. Ben is a good guy who lives in Brooklyn. Ben is a good guy who lives in Brooklyn and San Francisco. Ben is a good guy, maybe even a great guy, who lives in Brooklyn, lives in San Francisco, and hails from the November Project San Diego tribe. Ben is a good guy, who lives in Brooklyn, San Francisco, sometimes San Diego, and is all about representing November Project wherever he is (his job takes him around the world). Ben has a story and an outlook on all of NP that I hope you take time to read. Without another word, I give you Ben.
Vorfreude is a German word meaning the joyful, intense anticipation that comes from imagining future pleasures (although I am part German I just came across this word Googling inspirational quotes for anticipation)…
And now knowing what vonfreude means it is certainly the word I would associate when I set the alarm before any NP workout. Anticipation was front and center for my first interaction with NPSD way back in 2014 or so. I can’t recall for the life of me who recruited me, most likely it was a triathlete friend at the time, but I set my alarm for 5:45am and awoke to some butterflies in my stomach having very little idea what I was in for. I went alone and met, at the base of the Convention Center Stairs, what would become my first love, my love affair with November Project San Diego. What followed was nothing short of controlled chaos sprinkled with joy and whole lot of hugs, high fives and, of course, a good deal of “fuck-yeahs” and at the end of 40 minutes I experienced a work-out like no other – I was hooked, and so began my love story with NP. It’s a typical one, boy falls in love with his tribe, they flirt a lot, schedule weekly dates, he meets the entire family, and everyone seems to approve. Then boy invites his family and friends to meet the tribe and everyone gets along. They become inseparable – that perfect couple. And it appears a fairy tale romance has begun, and I assure you it was for a few years until that boy began to hear about other tribes and alarms where set in other cities and the vorfreude began all over. The hills of San Francisco, the beaches of Santa Monica, the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, the bridges of New York, the parks of London, the snowy pavement of Reykjavik. And before he knew it he was getting around with all sorts of tribes exploring what they had to offer and loving all of it!
NPSD will always be my first love and when I am in San Diego the anticipation is still just as strong when I first set my alarm, but because life is life I have found a new lover in NP Brooklyn. And while we are a young tribe I am bringing along the epic hype that has been passed along to me during my travels from tribe-to-tribe. The bounce is a little higher and the words are a little louder. And so, when that alarm goes off in Brooklyn, the pleasure is just as immense, because I have a love affair with this thing called November Projects. Not just one tribe, but the whole damn thing.
I mean I fucking love the NP community and all that it does for individual growth and support to a mass movement that is sweeping from city-to-city and from continent-to-continent. I am truly in awe of the remarkable co-leaders that lead in each city, their openness to share and give so much of their time is truly a dedication at a higher level. And well each and every member at November Project are uniquely amazing, those that lead us are truly some bad-ass human beings. And so I am vonfreude to set my alarm this Friday (tomorrow) for 2am, get in the car with my fiancé, and hopefully a few we recruit from NP Brooklyn and drive-up to Harvard Stadium to get my first taste of NP Boston. I will be there with a self-made NP flip-up (it will be the one that says FUCK YEAH on the flippy part) handing out high-fives and loud words of encouragement as I destroy myself on the steps of Harvard Stadium. I look forward to being surrounded by the world wide NP community, the 100+ fierce co-leaders that run this movement, and the two guys that one day in November committed to running up-and-down some steps. I will pass out hugs, smiles, and high fives at the end of the workout. We will get back in the car and drive back to New York.
Yep, I am in love with November Project because this shit is good, real good.
-BG
