Life Is the Freaking Club
I’ve Never Felt Closer to God Than When I Run Fast.
It’s not because the way my bangs part and peek out from my hat, blowing in the wind, makes my shadow look like I have the world’s tiniest wings.
It might be the endorphins. Or dopamine. I honestly don’t know.
What I do know with one hundred percent certainty is that jogging outside—in whatever season—has become the dance floor of my late thirties and now early forties.
When I weave around kids going to school or people walking their dogs, it’s the same as navigating a crowded bar to get to the bathroom. Instead of cheers’ing strangers with drinks, I exchange waves with other joggers.
A good family friend shared this week that her version of this is washing giant Tupperware containers late into the night.
I’ve never felt more understood.
The bottom line? Joy.
I run for joy. Usually with really loud dance music in my headphones.
We All Need Permission to Do Things Just for Joy
I think we’ve forgotten this. We’ve been taught that everything needs to be productive, optimized, tracked.
But what if we carved out little bits of time to do things for no other reason than they bring us joy?
This doesn’t mean we eliminate hard things. We should do MORE hard things. But maybe we reframe them as adventures instead of obligations. As gifts to our future selves.
Doing hard things now is you saying to future you: “Look at this beautiful life I’m creating for you.”
Think about how much your future self will appreciate everything you’re doing for them right now—even though you can’t see the results yet.
That’s love, right there.
Reframe the Small Stuff Too
It also means reframing the little tasks that come with being an adult human in the world as beautiful little expeditions.
My favourite? Doing the dishes.
I’ve reframed it as a warm bath for my hands. After dinner, music goes on, and I get this nice little time with warm, soapy water while giving my future self the gift of coming downstairs in the morning to a clean, empty sink.
Other things I’m doing for pure joy:
Drawing with no plan and music on
Watching really great films with a cozy blanket (instead of scrolling my phone)
Reading a juicy novel
Having fun talking to people and being genuinely curious about them
Turning up the volume and dancing as often as possible
Hot chocolate
Here’s Your Permission Slip
Because while yes, jogging is the dance floor of this season in my life, life is the freaking club.
So what brings you joy? What’s your version of running fast or washing Tupperware at midnight?
