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We are different. This is a cold hard fact.
Not a beautiful and unique snowflake but definitely different, it’s undisputable.
Driving the streets of Jacksonville I watched out my window scores of commuters and consumers busily getting from point A to point B. Not an altogether astonishing or out of the ordinary observation, to see scores of vehicles carrying their occupants, but the realization that in a city that spans the entirety of Duval county and the fringes of neighboring ones, we are decidedly the minority. Yes, CFJAX and the CrossFit East family are very much the minority. Entering the little warehouse in Mayport, it is as if you are transported into an entirely different society; a cloistered society where brand names are secondary to efficacy, where social perceptions and political correctness are secondary to performance. It is a place where self consciousness is only felt when examining one’s relative standing against peers and vanity is only seen when admiring the size of one’s sweat angel. To an outsider, the scene must be right out of Lord of the Flies, where social order has broken down and the over eager ADHD children reign, urging each other deeper and deeper into their holes of physical anguish. In our world, our reference of time is in relation to the WODs or in relation to our rest days, where one cycle feels like a week and the rest day the weekend, when in fact only 4 days have elapsed. A member on 5 on/2 off often will feel as if a month has passed by the time they have reached the final day of their cycle. And sadly our family is not for everyone, or maybe it is and they just don’t know it. Many have come and stayed for a time only to fade into obscurity as their name rests on the whiteboard less and less with the passing WODs and the passing weeks. In our family and our cloistered society we actively encourage members to go past their perceived limitations, to fail. There are few, if any, other places that encourage a result such as this. But we push each other to the limits and beyond so that we may crash and burn and upon rising from the ashes realize that we in fact could have endured much heavier burdens, so the next time we reach that level we’ll hold on to the realization of what our potential really is. Our hierarchy is not based on social or economic status, we don’t care if you are kind of a big deal and people know you, if you have many leather bound books and your mega mansion smells of rich mahogany. Our hierarchy is based on how hard you put out, how much you help push your fellow into the realm of unreasonable, how well you can execute movements and explain them to others, how deeply you commit. And secondary to your contributions to the community, our hierarchy is based on where you stack up on the whiteboard. Doctors, Lawyers, and Captains of Industry often find themselves eating an ego sandwich as school teachers, mechanics, and bartenders blow past them during a workout. Yes, we are decidedly different.
Not a beautiful and unique snowflake but definitely different, it’s undisputable.
Driving the streets of Jacksonville I watched out my window scores of commuters and consumers busily getting from point A to point B. Not an altogether astonishing or out of the ordinary observation, to see scores of vehicles carrying their occupants, but the realization that in a city that spans the entirety of Duval county and the fringes of neighboring ones, we are decidedly the minority. Yes, CFJAX and the CrossFit East family are very much the minority. Entering the little warehouse in Mayport, it is as if you are transported into an entirely different society; a cloistered society where brand names are secondary to efficacy, where social perceptions and political correctness are secondary to performance. It is a place where self consciousness is only felt when examining one’s relative standing against peers and vanity is only seen when admiring the size of one’s sweat angel. To an outsider, the scene must be right out of Lord of the Flies, where social order has broken down and the over eager ADHD children reign, urging each other deeper and deeper into their holes of physical anguish. In our world, our reference of time is in relation to the WODs or in relation to our rest days, where one cycle feels like a week and the rest day the weekend, when in fact only 4 days have elapsed. A member on 5 on/2 off often will feel as if a month has passed by the time they have reached the final day of their cycle. And sadly our family is not for everyone, or maybe it is and they just don’t know it. Many have come and stayed for a time only to fade into obscurity as their name rests on the whiteboard less and less with the passing WODs and the passing weeks. In our family and our cloistered society we actively encourage members to go past their perceived limitations, to fail. There are few, if any, other places that encourage a result such as this. But we push each other to the limits and beyond so that we may crash and burn and upon rising from the ashes realize that we in fact could have endured much heavier burdens, so the next time we reach that level we’ll hold on to the realization of what our potential really is. Our hierarchy is not based on social or economic status, we don’t care if you are kind of a big deal and people know you, if you have many leather bound books and your mega mansion smells of rich mahogany. Our hierarchy is based on how hard you put out, how much you help push your fellow into the realm of unreasonable, how well you can execute movements and explain them to others, how deeply you commit. And secondary to your contributions to the community, our hierarchy is based on where you stack up on the whiteboard. Doctors, Lawyers, and Captains of Industry often find themselves eating an ego sandwich as school teachers, mechanics, and bartenders blow past them during a workout. Yes, we are decidedly different.
The family in Jacksonville is changing, new gyms opening up, new trainers emerging from the ranks, new members being vetted, and this is all a great and wonderful thing. But I am sure that as time marches on and the community evolves, as living breathing organisms do, the integrity of our family and what it stands for, will not be corrupted. The trails we follow may take us from our cloistered, slightly odd, society but the experiences, realizations, and friendships will not leave us. Where these trails take us we can rarely know, but upon passing each other again the bond between fellow family members will remain.
I could use this space to express my thanks to those that have been mentors, colleagues, and friends. But the truth is, words do not do these special friends justice. I can only hope that my actions expressing appreciation have spoken volumes more than any words here could say.
Until we meet again on down the trail…
Only the Hard. Only the Strong.
-whit.
1 comment:
great post, whit. we'll miss you too buddy...
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