Who Will Save Your Soul?

Every so often there's a song or an idea or movie that saves my soul. You know when you just feel like you're outlined in pencil, and it's been a long ass time since you've been colored in? And then you hear this song or learn something awesome or read a great book—though for me, it's usually a song—and you're alive again, in living color.

There's always an LP playing in my head—like my theme songs of the moment. They save me. They breath life back into me. They make me want to run faster, be smarter, be cooler, be happier. They snap me back to ME—don't worry, I won't go there again.

This summer, the soundtrack to my Ultra Fit 6-week jumpstart program with the one and only Lori Sawyer, www.ls-fitness.com or www.mommy-moves.com, goes a little something like this:

1. Crazy by Gnarls Barkely (Yes, me and the free world. I know. I know.)
2. Gold Lion by Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs (I love the melodic, polished yet deconstructed East Villageness. It reminds me of hot summer nights with nothing to do but hang out and feel the breeze.)
3. Anyday by Derek and the Dominos (So much talent, so desperate, so raw and so messed up, so sloppy and so rock-n-roll.)
4. Oh, and I can't belive I am even going to write this (my former punk rock self is pointing and laughing as I type): SexyBack by Justin—yes, Timberlake. (Dudes, it's a good track and it's exactly what I am all about right now.)

Let me tell you something: these songs saved my soul, my hide and my pride this week, the week of the hiking workouts. I hadn't been hiking since I was 20. I was just out of college and seeking refuge (after 7 months as a cocktail waitress and struggling rocker-be) in Hawaii with two of my bffs. I really don't dig hiking because, well, it's hard! I never breathed a word of this whiner crap to Lori though. In fact, I just pushed all these negative thoughts outside of my brain and went for it. If I wimped, I'd have to cop to it on the blog. My ego superseded my laziness.

You know what? It didn't suck. It was actually cool because I conquered the hikes, or actually I conquered my fear that I couldn't do them. Lori kicked my butt but good. Running up hill, using random fences and mega-gross logs as push-up and dip props was very challenging, but still fun and adventurous. Huffing and puffing, I kept on going. There was a natural flow to the workout: what—or who, as it were—goes up, must come down. So up and down we went, pausing to use her wonder band for arm, chest and back exercises. I knew that I could do anything she asked because also knew that I'd eventually catch a down hill break.

Bugs, uneven terrain, humidity, fear of ticks (yes, this is my fear du jour), impending period, watch out because I'm just crazy enough to let my gold lion loose. Anyday now, I'm getting my sexy back.

So what's saving your soul?