I had to take a break from the tech. I don’t exercise anymore. Cannot remember the last time I stretched. I find myself wanting to sleep more.
When I used to exercise and stretch regularly, I slept less and felt more alive. So tonight, I committed myself to meeting with the Knoxville Juggler’s Club.
Jan Sanders Hall at Cokesbury United Methodist Church will be open to jugglers from 7 to 9 p.m. on the first Sunday and the third Tuesday of each month.
I am going to do my best to show up to both meetings. And I promise not to make any more naked jokes in the church… There were some very talented jugglers there tonight! Dave juggled 5 rings beautifully with ease, a feat I cannot personally replicate. He also juggled five crystal balls without a sweat. Kevin, Jimmy and Doug (not me…the other one) were doing artistic passing. My loud mouth came in and talked them into throwing lots of clubs at the floor. Noah practiced diablo and the rola bola. And we indoctrinated a bystander into 3 ball juggling. I had a blast!
What type of people attend juggling clubs? A high school math teacher, a nuclear engineer (okay..I don’t really know what he does but its got "engineer" in the title and his job is in Oak Ridge so I’m sure its top secret!), a finish carpenter who runs his own business, a middle schooler, a web application developer aka computer geek (yeah that’s me), and an IT guy (yes, that’s a computer guy too).
Why juggle? Because juggling is fun! And so much more. For me, juggling is almost spiritual! Juggling is good for the body as it is very aerobic. Juggling is better than coffee for waking you up as it gets the blood flowing and more oxygen to the brain. Juggling is a social activity. When a person juggles, be it a child or a shy person or anybody, people take notice and often converse and ask questions. Juggling will break you out of your shell! Juggling is good for the mind. You cannot juggle distracted. When you focus on juggling, your worries and the clutter in your mind slip away allowing you to find serenity. This is why corporations have seminars to teach their executives to juggle (aside from the wealth of productivity metaphors that can be thrown into the juggling lessons). In short, juggling is good for the mind, body and soul!
Who can juggle? Anybody! I’ve seen a one handed man juggle. Children can be taught at a very early age. Typically the hand eye coordination required develops around 8 to 10 years old but with patience, a 5 year old could learn. And everyone knows that as soon as I can (usually around 10 months), I teach my children to balance in my hand. I hear people say, "I am too clumsy." Well, that is a perfect reason to learn to juggle! Juggling makes you more aware of things around you and can help make someone less clumsy. Juggling teaches hand/eye coordination and teaches the mind to handle a state of chaos as well as predicting the paths of objects in motion. Jugglers are better drivers! Another excuse is "I don’t have the coordination." Yes you do! Anyone that truly wants to learn to juggle, I can teach in about 10 minutes. As Gusto’s cousin, Marso, says, "Anyone can juggle!"
