The men in Maranello would not be proud

Imagine what would happen if a Ferrari was only driven in first gear, no long stretches, no crossfall camber, and following instructions from the manual as to the correct and precise timing in which you ‘drop the clutch’?

It just doesn’t work this way…..deep sigh…deep breath.

Driving a Ferrari, or any car for that matter requires feeling, sensing, coordination, an acute awareness of your surroundings; anticipating the next corner, the next hill climb, titrating your speed so as to not touch the breaks on corners and inevitably, PRACTICE. If the Ferrari factory craftsmen’s back in Maranello knew someone was driving their cars ‘mechanically’ and not with savvy love they’d bring their hands to their hearts, bow their heads and shake their noggins to the left and to right, as if to gesture…“tragedia”!

Si si, tragedia!

My heart aches when I think about how many people I’ve worked with who are completely mechanized and aren’t moving smoothly through life. Historically riddled with ‘trying’ to improve and move their bodies by rote repetition of exercise and improvement of muscle firing patterns to aid function; remedies that merely mask the problem, and more often than not simply chase the problem to another body part, and often into their psyche.

Pavement IS NOT Earth

Most people can’t move the ‘vehicle’ they call a body through their life in the way it was designed. Fluidity and grace is foreign territory. As humans our potential for agility, dexterity, litheness, strength, speed and power is bottomless, yet how many people ever, if at all, experience such vigor? Even many of those deemed fit are so inflexible, rigid and in constant pain as a result of pounding on earth that isn’t even earth, but pavement.

A trip to Toys”R”Us = Shock

Last week it hit hard when I went into a Toys”R”Us (tried to find normal wood blocks: no such luck). I nearly keeled over in wonder, or perhaps it was shock, with the type of life I laid my eyes on: Resiliency, vibrancy, vigor: Toys”R”Us WAS NOT THIS. If humans walked around in the old fashion savanna and jungle with the over abundance of anxiety, disease, obesity, arthritis, aches and pains that pepper common strip mall/westernized life (like the folk in Toys”R”Us) we wouldn’t survive very long. We’d be eaten.

Biological Desire

If all our innovation, industry, medical advancements, pharmaceuticals, modes of transportation (cleverness?) etcetera was taken away, how would we do? How would you do? How we were designed 100’s of millions of days ago and what our genetics crave: social engagement, healthy expression of emotion, physical work, quality rest, clean air, fresh water and natural foodstuffs, rarely, if at all, is experienced. By not expressing what our genetics were diligently crafted for and not providing an environment to meet such biological desire, we suffer deeply.

Race cars or go to school?

Before I set out to graduate school in 2001 I had an offer to race cars. It’s true, hence the above analogy. A sports agent I met while working at a fitness center wanted a women to get on the Formula One circuit with the men and do it well. I LOVE to drive. (I do it well). He thought that a women dominating F1 would be bigger than a black man dominating a white man’s sport (his words, not mine – he was referencing Tiger Woods).

As you may have guessed, I went to school instead, and ten years later this is what I am thinking about: Ferraris, Tragedy, Toys”R”Us, and this:

Give in, search, get excited

The human body is the most complex and evolved piece of machinery every documented on this planet. I think we forget this. This is your reminder. In our crazy world of “must make more, do more, be more, Toys”R”Us more”, it’s really the time for us to drop that clutch (give in), find those gears (search), accelerate (get excited) and use our magnificent bodies and brains for the better.

V-12 or V…..?

The world needs ALL our cylinders NOW. The new Ferrari’s are up to twelve! The factory mechanics in Maranello must be proud. We’ve manufactured a lot, much we can be proud of. But it’s time to use what we need, toss the rest and create some new rules for school.

We still have so much to learn.

Thanks for reading, Irene.