By: Rachael Weiser
I am a bright yellow, aurora that makes the world bright, with the pulses of my feet on the floor, as I sprang into the air, my energy breaking through the holes of darkness embedded deep in the purple, stones on the ground.
The upbeat beat of the rock music from my alternative rock playlist sends melancholic and energetic energy careening through my body, and I turn, and move my knees back and forth to soak in the energy and release it into the air.
Dagny’s song, Ultraviolet, propels my legs in a forward motion, to the air conditioned, red colored gym.
I despise lifting weights from the ground, the way my hand feels when the sweat is against the metal and the burn in my arms makes them feel like they are on fire. I hate standing still in one place as I methodically bend my knees and then lift my back upwards. I hate running on the treadmill in still, feeling my feet move in quick motions side by side, one foot in the back, as the other foot is in the front, changing positions, stopping when the bottoms of my shoes get caught in the traction on the rubber. This friction burns the soles of my feet when my feet are desperate to bounce against the cool tiles, as they elevate themselves into the air, elevating my yellow energy into the air.
I yearn to feel my heart surge with energy, its quick strides leaping and jumping. My lungs crave the warm air to quickly enter my lungs, fill in the empty spaces where air needs to provide oxygen to my heart to beat, and for the blood to flow through my veins.
As push open the heavy, glass gym doors and my feet, light as a feather, bounce on the on the yellow tiles that are laid out in a circle, that makes the air flow into my lungs in circular motions.
Dagny’s deep and rock sounding voice, against the drums echoing with her voice, blending together into an upbeat melody, creates an ultraviolet energy that mixes with my yellow energy turning into shades of light pink, dark pink, and streaks of medium colored blue.
My feet are elevated into the air and my knees are brought forward so that joy creates harmony in my soul, which is on beat with the harmony of Dagny’s upbeat and energetic voice. Harmony keeps my body balancing as my legs speed across the track in a circle. Harmony turns my dark red energy that I keep buried deep inside of me into light pink.
Deep breaths enter the holes in my lungs, and my oxygen slowly exhales. This oxygen is shared with the people breaking their backs to make their muscles pop out of their skin. With each breath, I allow my knees to speed in medium speed, slow, and then propel quick, until my lungs need my body to be in one place, so I they have more time to breathe in and breathe out the molecules surrounding me. I gaze at the people bouncing the orange basketball below me, watching its every move, so they can tap their hands on the basketball and bring it towards them, their team. But when I am running, I do not have a team, and almost never a running partner, unless I see a stranger or acquaintance running on the track while I am also running on the track. But most people do not run with me, they run alone, like me. Because I am an independent woman, and who would I be, how would I change if I was running with someone else, and would I still run to the beat of my own drum?
It is important to find joy in the moments perceived by society as dull, because even in the stereotypical boring moments, happiness dances in the air. To find this joy, it is important to be mindful of all of the emotions surging through your body, which keep your heart beating to its own drum.