Please, set aside a few minutes to Contemplate a list of words beginning with the letter C that might beg a little probing, might hint at hidden meanings or even shout out encouragement. It’s a fun game I played while walking in the woods. As Sophie, my Chocolate lab, lost her head following scents of who knows what, I marveled at the winter woods, branches stripped of leaves, but well-dressed by sticky snow; mud and ruts and decay made Clean by a blanket of white. And silence. And time to think with unhurried precision.

The words Continuity and Consistency have been popping up all over the place in the fitness Community. If ever there might be a time to put our heads down and get the job done, it’s now, in this December of Decembers in this year of years. Is anyone urging drama, maximum performance or blinding exhaustion? Not really.

The voices I hear are Counseling us all to just keep going, to Continue self-Care no matter what Challenges arise. Rather than shouts, I hear whispers of Compassion, Confidence, Curiosity, Creativity, and yes, Celebration.

Get the idea? Your list could look quite different from mine: Cardio, Carbs, Competition, Change, Charge, Complete, Can-do. Hey – whatever works for you, well, works.

Sometimes all we need is a little something. Perhaps Pooh’s little something of honey is more relevant today than when Conceived. Perhaps that quick text, random email, or dedicated phone Call become large somethings as we each work to perpetuate our Connections. And isn’t that the VERY large something that we have learned over the past ten months of dealing with Covid? Haven’t we learned that we can live without much more than we had thought, but that we Cannot survive without Connection?

I have a favorite C word. I once read that each of us, at some point in our lives, needs to feel Cherished. Oh, such sweetness.

Back to the business at hand, I Challenge you to make a little list of C words and then glean from them maybe four or five words that you can put into practice, words that you can Chew on, savor and roll off your tongue then hear in new and different ways. Maybe you like to write them down and doodle around them. Perhaps you like to record them or simply slip them into your mental back pocket to pull out at another time. In any event, as you and I walk into this December holiday season (distanced and masked, of Course!) with a new year oh so Closely following, may we do so with Courage, Caring and Commitment.

P.S. A personal note on music. I want to share a little thought with you that blew into my brain while reading this morning. The time we are in is typically filled with music – music of all kinds from contemporary (forget the c’s) to sacred, from carols to classics (oh those c’s just keep coming) and from solos to choirs and choruses (ok, I quit). I have always had an aversion to “elevator music” or music that simply drones on in the background. I believe there should be either silence or listening. “Great music is not a matter of great ideas or intricate melodies. It is not about difficult phrasing or complex harmonies. Truly great music brings to expression the states of the soul.” (The Invisible Embrace, Beauty, Rediscovering the True Sources of Compassion, Serenity, and Hope by John O’Donohue. See why I’m reading this now?)  

It was interesting to realize that more than hearing music, I experience it. Great music awakens the dormant dancer in me. Great music drove the Spinning classes I taught and joined us in solidarity in our pursuits. Great music makes my heart beat. Great music leaves me with a flow of notes that, for lack of a better word, become a tune, a memorable melody that will replay in my imagination for hours if not days. I like silence. I do not like to strength train or teach/practice Yoga with music humming in the background. I want music front and center. I want music inside. And if you feel the same, may that music inside you awaken your personal dancer and may you dance – yes, well, “as if no one is watching!”

One last thing – 12/29 – usher out this 2020 by pausing for the Full Moon, surely a promise of better moments ahead. Thanks to my friend Steve Sampson for this gorgeous pic.