An Exercise in Exercise

The treadmill; what an incredibly ingenous way to harness the energy of man or beast to power something.  I think particularly of Scrooge's comment regarding the dilemma of care for the penniless and powerless, "are there no poorhouses, are there no treadmills?"  I ponder this as I submit to the tedium of a different sort of the same instrument that requires electricity to function, and powers nothing but my own sense of wanting to respond to my body's need to move. 

The treadmill is torture without the tremendous grace of music in the form of an ipod which sometimes has the uncanny ability to deliver songs in a way that powerfully pulls me out of the drudgery of what I am doing--and the pathetic irony, as well.   My work-out today was blessed in that way. 

So when Gino Vannelli's "Venus Envy" is the first song for the warm-up I can't help but hope that those who believe they dramatically differ from the ideal the song speaks of, feel far less so in hearing their intrinsic worth affirmed by one whose voice is its own Venus of sorts.  From there, Yes' "It'll Be A Good Day" affirms the rightness and goodness of everything, as John Anderson always communicates in his amazingly resonating way--well, at least for me (and his millions of long, long time fans.)  I can't help but assent to his wisdom so many times in my life.

After a few more tunes that challenge my urge to want to just dance, and inspires some moves that would look weird in a public gym, I start to wonder how long I've been at this repetive effort that sometimes seems a metaphor for my life--moving quickly and getting nowhere. 

I generally don't engage the "scan" function on the treadmill which records my time, calories burned, etc, until a few songs anyway because I can't bear how long it takes to feel like I'm accomplishing anything or burning significant calories.   So, I wait til I break a sweat, or I wait for the next song to end.  I decided to do that today, and the next song was Bob Dylan's "Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts" an 8:37 ballad that has a perfect beat for going 4 miles an hour.  And I can't help but feel that God has a sense of humor, the universe moves in ways we scarcely understand, and we move with it, forward.  I also think about if you take the word ipod and flip the "p" over you have a "g".  Certainly this little purple device I love best of all my possessions is filled with the sacred--in digital form. 

At the end of this song, I hit the "scan" button, and I have finished the 2 miles I wanted to achieve--2.11 miles, actually, in 35 minutes.  And I loved every one of them!