Love Dares You

I promised EPIC for my final Wednesday night spinning class, and I’m not quite sure I delivered. I can say that it was a pretty damn sweaty experience and I had a wonderful time.

I chose music that inspires me in some way: to breathe, to fight, to be a better human being; songs that compel me to sing along with a comical earnestness. You know: eyes closed and the whole dramatic bit.

*I hope I never see video of myself—a scrawny, middle-aged lady—bustin’ it out to Eminem. I think Marshall Mathers would die from shame. But, unsurprisingly, I do really believe in “the music, the moment, you own it, you better never let it go.”

For the final hill, we took on the brilliant Bowie/Queen collaboration, “Under Pressure.” With a disco-worthy bass-line, sublime lead guitars by Brian May, and heart-wrenching vocals from both Bowie (on the low end) and Freddy Mercury (on the high) this song is a veritable sermon on humanity. “Love dares you to care for the people on the edge of the night,” Mercury sings. This means, I think, that love dares us to be stronger, kinder, more compassionate. It entails forgiveness but also high expectations. It’s a pretty radical and revolutionary idea. Love means working harder but being softer. And love means, sometimes, not putting up with shit from people who should know better.

I tell my classes often that climbing on the bike is an act of love: that the commitment we make to our own health (and sanity) by sweating out our demons makes space for more goodness in the world. I like to think David and Freddy would agree.

Alrighty then: let’s bring some love to Monday night!

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5 Responses to Love Dares You

  1. Kelly says:

    Aww, Jamie…needed these words today. (and of course the music) Lovely. You “get it”.

    Kelly

  2. Cyn says:

    I like that you are teaching on Monday, because this means I can make an appearance. Though I have not been spinning since well I left, so its going to be brutal in that “I will need this” after a month in Europe way.

    I shall see you in 2012!

  3. Annabel says:

    Added, I enjoy your blog! 🙂

  4. Michael says:

    Hi Jamie….some garden-variety coincidence since last nights spin class. I was at a local bar and heard a song playing over Pandora….I asked the bartender to shazam it and sure enough The Black Keys…’I Got Mine’….thanks for the heads up

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