"The iron is the great reference point, the all-knowing perspective giver. Always there like a beacon in the pitch black." —Henry Rollins, Iron and the Soul
The new year has never been an inspiring moment for me. It’s more of a moment to drink a bottle of wine and watch old movies. However this transitional moment of Winter-to-Spring has been consistently motivating. There is a certain scent that hugs the air and I can suddenly remember things from 20 years ago. All those expectations, memories and intentions are compressed into the present and electrify me to do something. Some years that something is nothing more than digging out old albums, but last year was different. I sought strength. Strength of character and strength of physical form. I reclaimed my old weight set from my parents’ basement, set up new routines: lifting, jogging, yoga, meditation, softball, consistent reading, writing… with the goal of channeling anger, frustration and anxiety into positive motion. Now, a year later I stand here 25 pounds leaner, 10 years older, clearing away the cobwebs.
Digression: With the windows open for the first time in months I walked passed the weights and thought to myself yes, this makes perfect sense. That might sound odd, because a barbell isn’t a challenging thing to understand, but there was a clarity to it and the barbell radiated like a beacon. At this moment it wasn’t an object it was an intention/beacon/metaphor for a complex system of thoughts and concepts, memories and ideas. As we move forward through marriage and babies and death and divorce everything seems to have at least a dual emotion. It’s nice to be able to visual an object or utter a simple word and have it explain a larger system.
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