Up Down Up Down

Another day, another song. Blue October's Jump Rope.

The first time I heard this song, I cried. Seriously. Let me put it in context. I'd been in Cincinnati for about a week, getting started on a 6 week training course - the longest I have EVER been away from my child. There was an instant connection with several of my colleagues, and the group had really started to gel. Being a Montessori training, there was certainly an openness to the experience, and more than a little bit of the touchy-feely to go around.

The previous night, my son had called me, because he was taking his first trip overseas. 7 years old, and on his way to beautiful Scotland with his Dad and Stepmom. Needless to say, I was a bit off kilter, emotionally speaking; as I walked into class that morning, it was with the all-too-present awareness that my baby was somewhere over the ocean, on his way to a great adventure. The butterflies in my stomach didn't stop flapping until he called again later that day, safely landed on the other side of the world.

Part of the morning meeting routine in the Montessori adolescent program is a reflection. A class member shares something - a poem, a quote, a song - intended to provoke - you got it - reflection. That morning, a friend who could be my cousin's twin, shared this song. And I bawled (I wasn't the only one, though).

From that moment, this song has meant so much to me. Especially now. The band has an interesting history of "battling" stigma, because the lead singer and song writer has dealt openly with mental illness and drug addiction. He writes about it and he sings about it, but he also sings about the joys of life. One of the things I love about this band is the way they manage to be raw and refined at the same time. This song in particular, was written for Furstenfeld's daughter. If you read it, you can see it. It says what I want to say to everyone I care about, especially my boy, but including myself.

I wrote the other day about being bummed out that everything's on course. This song reminded me today that yeah, things do get hard, but then they get better again, and it all depends on how you deal with what you're dealt. Life's like a jump rope. I can't say it any better. The song speaks for me today.

Here is the band performing live.

Remember how you used to say

You couldn’t wait 'til tomorrow for a brand new day and

No fuss when you had to ride the bus

You just add a little blush

To paralyze your school crush

Now you're older and the weight is on your shoulder

Makes the world a little colder

No more hiding in the old day

Be strong

Don’t you give up hope

It will get hard

Life’s like a jump rope

Up down, up down, up down, up down, yeah

‘Cause it will get hard

Remember life’s like a jump rope

Up down, up down, up down, up down, yeah

It will get hard

‘Cause it will get hard

There’ll be a bump and there will be a bruise

There’ll be alarms, and there will be a snooze

There’ll be a path that you will have to choose

There’ll be a win, and there will be a lose and

You gotta hold your head up high and

Watch all the negative go by

Don’t ever be ashamed to cry

You go ahead

’Cause life’s like a jump rope

Up down, up down, up down, up down, yeah

It will get hard

Remember, life’s like a jump rope

Up down, up down, up down, up down, yeah

It will get hard

 Come on

I want to tell you that everything will be okay

That everything will eventually turn itself to gold

So keep pushing through it all

Don’t follow lead the way

Don’t lose yourself or your hope

’Cause life’s like a jump rope

Up down, up down, up down, up down, yeah

You stomp your feet so hard you make it pound

Raise it back up to the top

And now we’re never coming down

Up down stomp your feet spin around

Clap your hands to the rhythm and you slip down

You stomp your feet so hard you make it pound

Raise it back up to the top

And now we’re never coming down

Up down, up down, up down, up down, yeah

It will get hard

Remember, life’s like a jump rope

Up down, up down, up down, up down, yeah

It will get hard

'Cause it will get hard

Life’s like a jump rope,

Up down, up down, up down, up down, yeah

‘Cause life’s like a jump rope

Woh oh oh

'Cause life's like a jump rope.