This winter break, there was an influx of movies that either earned a lot of money or garnered critical acclaim. One movie in particular, "Brokeback Mountain," brought out an urge in me that I had been suppressing for too long - one that certainly could no longer be denied.
It was something that I had never done but had dreamt about for years. I was in the mood to experiment, and this felt so right that it couldn't be wrong. You know exactly what I'm talking about... I desperately needed to go horseback riding.
Since Tufts doesn't offer a course in this field, I figured I would experiment instead with two classes I thought I would never take: yoga and gospel choir.
Up until this semester, I hadn't really taken advantage of going to a school like Tufts. I'd taken a cool Ex College course about analyzing baseball statistics and had learned about the history of rock and roll, but I never really stepped out of my comfort zone. Well, Gospel Choir took my comfort zone and flushed it down the toilet.
For those of you who don't know about it, Gospel Choir is a half-credit course that meets once a week for two hours to learn songs for a concert to be performed at the end of the semester.
I walked into this class with a couple of my friends, assuming that it would be a lot of messing around with occasional singing. I never expected to hear talented singers. One girl's voice sounded as though it could be put on a CD, whereas my voice, if on a CD, would be used as capital punishment for serial killers - but even that might be too inhumane.
A townie in a gospel choir is a sight to see, especially when that townie is Irish and Italian. Gospel used to be something I would hear not from a choir, but from a priest.
I didn't know anything about the music; my sneakers had more soul than I did. It's been a very positive experience, however, and I've learned how to mask my voice within the choir... by mouthing the words. Not hearing my voice will really make the choir sing "Hallelujah."
When my girlfriend first said to me, "Maybe you should try yoga," I think my response was along the lines of, "Maybe you should try piping down." The only thing I knew about yoga was that guys very rarely did it and spandex was the norm.
Now, I am about as flexible as a 72-year-old grandfather with arthritis in his back. Touching my toes had always been a deadly game of cat and mouse - reach too far, and my hamstrings would have rolled up like window curtains.
Also, the only man in my mind who wouldn't get made fun of for doing yoga is Jack Bauer, and I'm certainly not him. (For those who watch "24," a moment of silence please for Edgar...thank you.)
Then I came to the realization that I was currently in physical therapy trying to become more flexible in order to help my bad back.
Being the genius that I am, I realized that yoga would be an ideal way to help me out. Two birds with one stone: I finally had a viable excuse to take yoga and not look like a tool. Unfortunately, the response from pretty much everyone I know when seeing me walk with my royal blue yoga mat is "Sweet, loser," or "Hey, look there's that guy with the yoga mat I was talking about at lunch, the sketchy townie kid."
From what I've gathered so far about yoga, the point is to bring your body and mind together as one and to "find one's center." I still haven't found it yet; if anyone has the directions to it, it'd be much appreciated. Besides, I've probably given you directions before, so help a townie out.
So far, I'm easily struggling way more than anyone else in the class. I can't even say the word "yoga" correctly.
That said, I still have found it to be a very helpful activity. The flexibility in my legs and back, though still embarrassing for a 21-year-old, has gotten considerably better.
I think I need to work on my attire for class, though. Last week I showed up in soccer shorts from 9th grade and a Medford Mad Dogs T-shirt (my summer baseball team...we're wicked nasty). Hopefully, in couple of weeks, I'll finally be limber enough to reach that hard-to-scratch spot on my back. I think that's where my center is.
The bottom line is, I decided to take these courses on a whim, and so far, they've been as fun as any class at this school.
So next time you look at classes and see Yoga and Gospel Choir, don't be nervous: If a townie like me can do it, then I'm pretty sure you can do it too. And probably better than me, for that matter.
