We have a leaderboard now. And we love our leaderboard. Every day before class, it is the subject of as much scrutiny as if it were a casting announcement. And in a way, it is a casting announcement– we are looking to appoint someone as the most hardcore. We all want to believe we are already deserving of that role.
Although I have officially passed the half-way mark four days ahead of schedule, I am by no means the most active SweatFest participant. This one guy, Peter, had 15 classes already yesterday, when most of us were at about 11. Josee & Yannick were hot on his heels.
The leaderboard is definitely messing with our heads. Forget the 28 classes in 28 days goal. Now people are just striving to do the most classes, period. I even caught myself telling someone yesterday “I’m kind of slacking this week. I’m only going to do seven classes, and none of them will be breakdance.”
I’m only going to do seven (7) classes.
This is obviously not healthy thinking. This is leaderboard thinking. I come by it honestly, and you can see it reflected in my characters A LOT– especially Madi (she’s a big presence in Rhythm and Blues, just as she was in Break on Through).
My mother, who raised me, and who is competitive in every physical activity she tries (in the “competitive athlete” sense, not the “let me win or I’ll club you with this racket” sense) said to me “SweatFest doesn’t sound that challenging. When I was in ballet college, we danced five classes a day, five days a week.”
But I’d like to point out that no one at SweatFest has been to ballet college, and in fact, most people arrive at it after a full day of work or school (or whatever it is I do– sit in cafes, staring into space for hours on end). We should all stop from time to time and smell the sweat, and remember that even the “minimum” is a feat of awesome.
The leaderboard, meanwhile, will get recycled one day.
Related posts
- Launching Rhythm and Blues with SweatFest!
- SweatFest, Day 4: The Dayoffening
- Sweatfest: Day 1, the kickoff
- SweatFest, Day 3: So much laundry on my mind
- Sweatfest, Days 8 & 9: Sweaty Like the Wolf
