In my youth, I was a competitive figure skater. As an athlete, my training took on many forms. Sometimes I was ahead of the game, sometimes I was far behind. If I were to be honest, most of the time, I was just trying to keep up.

I got the odd injury, shoulders or back or in one case a broken nose, but I remained relatively healthy. The setbacks I experienced as a skater were more of my own doing. I could really be terrible to myself. My competitors really didn’t have to do much, I should have gotten a gold medal or two for defeating myself.

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A few weeks ago, I listened to the 1000th episode of the WTF Podcast with Marc Maron. It was a bit of a surreal experience listening to Maron and his producing partner Brendon McDonald talk about the history of the podcast. They went through it all - how they met, the events leading up to the creation of the podcast, and how it has evolved over the years. Maron even got all teary eyed at the end when he talked about the impact his partnership and friendship with McDonald has had on his life.

WTF was the very first podcast I ever listened to, and I can say with a certain amount of pride that I have listened to each episode since - all 1000 of them. You could say it has really stuck with me. I’ve gone in and out of devouring each episode as soon as it’s posted to taking breaks and binging those that had stockpiled.

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A few weeks ago, I woke up, made a cup of coffee, looked out the window to check the weather, and asked a question out loud to myself that I never thought I’d ask: “How did that red yoga mat get on top of that tree?” This is not a philosophical question or a fable I am imparting on you.

I live on the third floor of a condo building, and the tip of the tree outside was exactly parallel with my balcony. And at the top of the tree, a red yoga mat wrapped around some branches, gently rocking in the light wind. It must have been thrown from a floor above. I think it’s a fair assumption to say it was thrown out of anger. No one throws something off a roof with happiness in their hearts. 

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I send out a newsletter every month with information about what I’m up to. It’s fun and short and I’d like to try and interest more people to join. For the next few months, I’m going to post what I wrote in the newsletter the week after it’s sent out. You can have a look and see if this is something you might want to appear in your inbox every month. Scroll to the bottom to sign up.

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