It’s the time of year when the weathers hot, the days are long and you find yourself out and about at dusk and beyond on those balmy evenings. Why yes, we are talking about that sweet, sweet summer. We wanted to take the time to acknowledge how wonderful this time is and appreciate it for all that it is, and also consider the future of this tribe using an analogy.
When you look at summer as a whole, you can almost compare it to anything wonderful. For example, sunshine, unicorns or even narwhals. Summers are magical. They are pure and utter bliss. It can also be compared to a relationship. We all know relationships are rainbows and butterflies….
The thing about summer is that it has more in common with a relationship than you’d believe. The first 3 months are bliss. June, July and August. Those are the months. The sun is out and still shining long after you arrive back home after work. The bliss of a new relationship is much like those first few months of summer. When you first start dating, you are familiarizing yourself with one another’s habits, qualities and quirks- it is exciting and enthralling. You are immersed by your partner and everything that they do. It’s light n’ easy, it’s fun and there’s no stress. Relationships and all and the sweet, sunlit love that is present throughout those warm summer days, like most things, seasons change. Your relationship rolls through the beauty of fall. Your workouts run through fall quicker than the leaves can tumble off the trees. You become comfortable with your partner and the relationship is steady and smooth. Then like that, you find yourselves smack dabbed with winter.
Oh yes, that often dreaded time of the year right after Christmas where there are no more candy canes to share, or mistletoes hung in doorways. You now wake up and it’s dark outside and then somehow you return home to realize that yet again, it is dark out. You find yourself chilled. Winter can be tough. Straight up. The hermit life may start taking over and your positive state of mind may take a hit. Why go out when you can seclude yourself to the grand indoors? So winter can be compared to that little rough patch, or a fight that went on way too long in your relationship. Winter is that time when your partner becomes too familiar with your habits and thoughtful acts may become fewer and farther in between if you are not careful. However, throughout winter and relationships, you are always looking for warmth and connection. The warm days seem so far away throughout days with a windchill of -40C. But alas, like a baby fight over who gets the last brussel sprout, time passes and then the sight of dew on the grass in early spring gets you going. The fresh start is here, spring is here and the snow begins to melt away. You peel off layers as the days get warmer and now you have almost come to a year full circle in your relationship. So you wake up to find yourself and your partner one full year later back in the thick of it. One year. You made it. You made it through the winter, you made it through together. Long gone are the days where you found yourselves huddling together for warmth. You are now exploring, off adventuring and the time spent indoors is now deterring you and you wouldn’t be caught dead netflix binging now. You remember what it’s like to be in outdoors where the air is fresh and your heart is filled with the beauty of nature. But why did you hide from this all winter? Is there something that can help not just get through the dreaded winter, but embrace its brisk mornings, fresh air? Can there be an excuse to get outside when we spend so much of it indoors? It may just be November Project that can help facilitate this positive change during those testing times.
Waking up and rolling out of bed during the summer is easy. The sun is shining and the birds are chirping, and showing up to NP is not too big a deal. You still had to wake up early and get yourself moving and grooving and resist the urge to snooze and there is no downplaying this feat. But what’s even more badass than waking up and showing up at 6:29am in the summer? Doing it in the thick of winter. If you are new to November Project, perhaps you are just learning that you #justshowup no matter what the weather because we are #weatherproof. Dressed to the nines in your gear and crushing your day even before the sun rises. You no longer get comments about how crazy you are for working out at 6:29am, but are now admired for doing it in the middle of winter. You go from a indoor treadmill runner who never runs outside, to realizing how quickly you actually start warming up when you move alongside others. And that it’s actually not as impossible as many think- it’s simply just badass. You quickly realize how important those dark mornings are to get your mindset in the right place through that long Ottawa winter.
So yes, seasons and relationships ebbs and flows. And so does November Project and the changing seasons of this beautiful country. And yes, at times all of these things can be rocky, but they can also be a wild and wonderful rollercoaster ride and one hell of a good time.
So here’s to the relationships of the past, present and future and to the workout today, next week, the middle of January and a year from now.
Here’s to bringing soles together,
Liz and Lauren
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