I'm a pretty big fan of coffee (or as I like to call it, go-go juice). I like it both for its mildly stimulating effects, as well as for the craft of it all. I've consumed quite a few cups of coffee in my short time on this earth, some really, really good, and some really, really not good. And the funny thing is, the worst cup I've ever consumed was "coffee" just as much as the best cup. Coffee can be a cup of wet, brown, bitter stuff served in a styrofoam cup, or it can be a masterpiece, a work of art that's been obsessively crafted and pored over (pun intended) from start to finish. But it's all still coffee.

The same can be said of movement. The awkward stumble and stagger of someone who's had a few too many drinks trying to find their way home is movement just as much as the controlled and powerful performance of a gymnast navigating the uneven bars, or a dancer flowing through a routine. They're both technically movement, but really, they're nowhere near the same. One is a pure accident, uncontrolled and chaotic. The other is a work of art, the intimately detailed culmination of thousands of hours of caring and hard work.

But getting back to coffee... I'm a big believer in the idea that life's too short to drink bad coffee, and I think that the same principle can be applied to movement.

Coffee can be purely utilitarian. It can serve as a comforting morning routine, or consumed solely for the stimulating effects of the caffeine. And in the same way, movement can be utilized solely for the purpose of improving health markers, changing physique, or getting us from point A to point B. These things aren't bad by any means, but they're just tip of the iceberg. Both coffee and movement offer us more than basic utility. Both offer us an opportunity to create, to be purposeful, to do something that involves true human investment and care. And the same can be said of cooking, writing, architecture, etc.

The point here isn't that you should be spending thousands of hours focused on crafting the beauty of your barbell thruster. Rather, it's that movement has more to offer than what you may see at first. Getting toned for beach season may be what gets you in the proverbial door, but what's going to make you stay? What's going to keep you pushing to become a better you when beach season is over, when utility gets boring and the flame has died out? Perhaps you'll never have to answer this question for yourself. Perhaps you'll always be satisfied with warm, brown, caffeinated liquid, and that's perfectly okay. But if you ever do find yourself wondering if there's more to be had, know that there is.