When you run as slowly as I do, it’s impossible to find people to join you for long distance jogs. The loneliness can take the mental aspect from challenging to excruciating. Humans by nature are social beings. I know some people who would argue with this concept. They “hate people”, or want to “be alone”. They would not argue that solitary confinement is one of the worst punishments known to humankind, which supports the theory that humans need each other.
I know one thing I need is encouragement. Toward the end of marathon training season, the distances required are insane. 18 miles. 20 miles. Hours and hours of continuous jogging. At the races, there are always people to cheer. Cow bells, funny signs, clapping, and shouts keep me going. In training, it’s just me and my thoughts. Sometime last summer, I started clapping for myself. I probably looked like a crazy lady, but the affect on my morale was the difference between quitting and finishing.
I didn’t exactly set out to write a song about this experience. I stumbled upon a guitar riff that I couldn’t stop playing. Then a chant creeped into my head. “Clap For Yourself.” I ignored it for awhile, because it was..well…kind of dumb. My brain had another idea. “Dig down deep inside, find your sense of pride, let it rise up”, the next lines, came to me and reminded me of a few other other songs about self worth. Though it doesn’t measure up to Whitney Houston’s version “I decided long ago to never walk in anyone’s shadow” or The Carpenter’s “Don’t worry if it’s not good enough for anyone else to hear…just sing”, it at least made my effort worthy.
The song is done, but not in it’s entirety here. The production is about 1/2 way done…there’s still one more verse to go…I’ll have to finish another time as it’s 2am and I have to walk the dog.
**Thanks in advance for listening!