WHAT??? You TOO???
Hey Charlene

I have been going to Reformer Pilates for more than a year now. It has been extremely helpful in getting much of my balance back and strengthening my ‘core’.

Three of us students are pretty close. One lady has lost nearly 150 lbs in two years — very, very hard work. One lady is a massage therapist training to be an aesthetician and trying to put two kids through university. And then there’s me. They call me Trouble.

About a month ago, our favourite teacher quit. She had taught us for about 95% of the time we’ve been going. So last weekend, we three met her at a coffee shop to catch up.

At several points in our four-way gabfest, the conversation stopped, and everyone looked at each other and said, WHAT? YOU TOO?

To which I finally said, Ladies, it makes perfect sense. We are all human beings. And all human beings are, for the most part, alike. And humans need to be connected. The only trouble is we try so damn hard to be different and better, all we successfully end up doing is isolating ourselves from one another.

What’s my point to this story, you ask?

For the most part, we humans, regardless of gender, race and all the other labels we use, have the same kinds of thoughts (both good and bad) and the same types of feelings (again, both good and bad) that every other human has. The only differences are the timing and the intensity of said thoughts and feelings.

This brings me to the real point here.

I have a dear friend on the west coast on an island called Whidbey in Washington. For nearly three years, she has produced a labour of love – her podcast she calls Stories from Women Who Walk and to which fans refer as Sixty Seconds.

Diane has something like one hundred and fifteen thousand downloads – and makes no money from it – through sponsors, advertisers or even incremental business. Yet, she continues to put out five episodes a week.

Sixty to ninety seconds of thought-provoking comments bookended with 30 seconds of music.

And despite having earned zero pennies, her inbox is always jammed with comments from her listeners. Of course, the most common refrain she gets is – WHAT? YOU, TOO? And then, the listener gives Diane their own personal take on her Sixty Seconds.

I say that falls into the ‘hot damn, I left a legacy’ category!

If you could use a minute a day of inspiration and wisdom on an extensive range of topics, then it is my pleasure to introduce you to

And while you won’t necessarily agree with everything she speaks about on the day she talks about it, I promise you one thing. The number of times you exclaim, WHAT? YOU, TOO? will indeed surprise you.

Because the truth is we human beings are all connected. Thoughts and feelings are what unite us and keep us strong. So there is no good reason for us to be isolated and alone.

PS … Diane did not ask me to write this. She has no idea I wrote this. And she’ll be delighted with a few extra pairs of ears subscribed to her on Apple or Spotify.

PS 2 After three weeks in a row of a new teacher every single week, this coming Saturday morning, we get our ‘permanent’ Pilates instructor. We all (student and teacher alike) will look at one another and say, WHAT? YOU, TOO, are happy about having a regular life again? Let’s get movin’ and groovin’!

The Last Word

I think what makes us human – is our interconnectedness among people. It’s our ability to form and maintain relationships. It’s the barometer by which we call ourselves human. Thomas Jane