Feeling at One With the World, at the Gym

The moments of bliss come unexpectedly.

Photo by author.

I almost cried doing a plank. And not because it was hard, which planks are.

This moment occurred when I lowered my body onto a putty mat in a workout room at my swim club. As The Talking Head’s sublime “City of Dreams” played, I exited myself and saw a woman placing her elbows and forearms parallel to the sides of the mat; then, laying her body out as flat as possible, the toes pressing into the floor at shoulders’ width apart. I watch-felt her engage all the muscles from her torso, assuming a balance between the left-side, right-side and I saw —

Such beauty, this effort of living!

And this rush of wonder entered:

• That a human would take her corporeal self and make this shape with her body in order to continue swimming long distances well into her fifties!
• That sweet effort we make in our lives, getting in there, growling and howling during daily acts of living, such beauty we are!

In that pre-plank moment, I felt a perspective of it All — all people, making their amazing effort at living.

That day, and earlier that week and for most of the month, I was busy getting tossed about by a symphony of negative thinking in the key of low…