About a year and a half ago, the five of us girls started to have what we refer to as New Recipe New Ingredient (NRNI) nights. We got together and prepared a dinner from scratch that included an ingredient that someone had never cooked with before. We chatted while cooking, drank wine, ate, laughed, and always ended the night with what we call a "Sparkle Dance Party." Every one of these dance parties starts off with our official Sparkle Song, "On Top of the World" by Imagine Dragons. We dance around the living room like teenage girls and sing songs at the top of our lungs. It is awesome.
One of those nights last winter, Stephanie shared an inspirational YouTube video during our Sparkle Dance Party. It was "A Pep Talk from Kid President." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-gQLqv9f4o If you have never watched it, I highly encourage it! One of the most meaningful lines from the video to me is, "Give the world a reason to dance."
To me (Kendra), that's where "Sparkle" comes from. And it's what "Sparkle" means. It means that you should do incredible things that inspire others to do incredible things! Think about anything in the world that makes you want to dance, to celebrate your accomplishments, and then go do it! That's what it means to "Sparkle."
Ok, back to the story...
After watching that video together, we chatted a little about what we could do as a group of girls that would inspire other women to be awesome. Lori and I emailed back and forth over the next few days, but nothing ever really came of it. We wanted a plan for how to make the world sparkle, but we just couldn't really come up with anything.
Fast forward a year...
Over the summer I talked the girls into signing up for a 50K in Vermont. What better way to spend a girls weekend than on a road trip to run 31 miles through the mountains of Vermont!? Throughout all of our training, we would text back and forth and keep each other motivated. Very often, after someone shared an accomplishment, we would text "Sparkle. Pounce.", which meant something like "Be amazing and inspiring, but be a fighter who doesn't back down." So, the "Pounce." (to me) means that you attack each challenge with confidence and a "never give up" attitude.
So, "Sparkle.Pounce." became something that we said to each other all the time. We decided that we needed to have matching "Sparkle. Pounce." shirts printed to wear for the 50K that we were doing together. Stephanie designed them. We got sweatshirts and tanks, and wore the tanks during the race. We got countless comments on the shirts. But it was more than just the shirts that got people's attention. We were referred to as "Team Sparkle.Pounce." and it seemed that everyone was happy to see us. The volunteers greeted us with huge smiles. Other racers commented on our team effort and positive attitude. It was awesome. We were definitely spreading some sparkle. And I have to say that anyone who finishes a 50K is definitely showing some "pounce."
After the race, we spent the rest of the weekend dreaming about turning "Sparkle.Pounce." into something. And that is what we're trying to do. We want to inspire others to give the world a reason to dance.
Sparkle. Pounce.
No comments:
Post a Comment