RANDOM GRATITUDE

Today the sun is shining in its perfect October way, giving us a bright and beautiful landscape after days of fog, hinting at the rains and clouds to come soon to this part of the country.  Maybe that's why my heart is full of gratitude and happiness.

Here are some random things that make me happy today:

Son-One and his wife, our beautiful DIL, are expecting a BABY GIRL!!!  Yep, little 5-year old Angel will be a big sister.  (There will be other posts about this, of course (!), but we just found out the sex of the baby, so we are floating like this pink balloon!)

YAY!  SEE YOU IN MARCH, SWEET GIRL!

Our Seahawks quarterback, Russell Wilson, who absolutely everyone loves because he is such an amazing athlete with an almost unshakable positivity about everything in life and is an articulate and caring person as well, has started a Foundation to combat Domestic Violence, which I think is pretty great.  Watch him here and Pass the Peace:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPqGbALs_Y0


My all-time very favorite singer/songwriter, Jackson Browne, is 66 today and how the hell does that happen anyway, when I am still 26 and I thought he was 28.  Oh well, here he is singing the anthem of my mid-20's.  He has more poignant socially relevant music, but this one rocks the world I inhabited in 1977:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdHg4QEmBvk


Also on the VIP music hit parade today is this iconic song by the great John Lennon, who would have been 74 today.  (Just imagine that while you are imagining!)  This is another song that puts me right back in a certain time of my life, but the message is timeless:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRhq-yO1KN8

I love this picture I got from somewhere on Facebook (not sure who to attribute it to, but it's not mine) to commemorate Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  So funny.  It reminds me that back in December, after my most recent mammogram, I was so scared when I had to go back for another look due to an "abnormality" in the initial image.  I wrote about that in this blog (12/11/13).  I am grateful it turned out fine for me; I send love to my sisters everywhere who are battling this disease (which is not funny at all).


Also, the upside (I guess) of my recent car accident is that the loss of my beloved Prius meant the gain of a new car, a Suburu Outback.  I am told I now belong to the "Subie Nation" -- some sort of cult, apparently headquartered in Boulder, Colorado judging by the massive number of Outbacks I saw during a visit there last weekend.  Mine is a beauty.  Her Venetian Red Pearl color has led to me calling her just "Pearl".  I think we will make a nice couple.

I deserve none of this joy, of course; it is all grace.  It feels good to find open-hearted appreciation for so much light after a little stretch of darkness.  Hallelujah!

At least, that's the view from here…. ©

THE SEPARATION IS IN THE PREPARATION

We won.  We dominated.  Vegas had Denver as 2-1/2 point favorites in the Super Bowl.  Final score:  Seattle: 43  Denver: 8.  Shocking and completely unexpected.  Denver with the best NFL offense and MVP veteran quarterback vs. Seattle with the best NFL defense and a bunch of virtual rookies and low draft picks  (our QB in only his second season with the NFL).

There will be gallons of ink (well, terabytes of data) used to break down and analyze the finer points of the game.  But I find inspiration in this quote by Seattle's coach, Pete Carroll:

"We are what we repeatedly do.  Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit."

Russell Wilson, our Seahawk QB, says "the separation is in the preparation", meaning hard, tedious, continuous, unrelenting WORK gives the advantage to those who put in the time and develop the habit of seeking excellence.  The reward goes to the one who believes in their inherent gift in whatever they do and constantly seeks to learn and improve.  Wilson also believes in a higher power, recalls and honors the love and encouragement of his late father and mentor, and selflessly checks his ego at the door to let others shine.

I have been taken to task for my recent football posts. Deservedly, perhaps, for finding such pleasure in a game that can cause irreparable injury and debilitating dementia among those who have sustained serious head injuries.  I have no defense of this, only to say that I lay the blame at the feet of the NFL (and coaches and anyone else) who turns a blind eye to a culture that sacrifices players for money and a winning record.

The game itself, however, and the lessons one can learn from sport are not the villains.  Yesterday's game was played cleanly.  There were few penalties for infractions that were "violence"-related; no one was seriously hurt; the win and the loss were between two of the sport's elite teams….and the team that had developed the habit of excellence this year won.

All of us have a gift.  There are many, many ways in which we can be thwarted in life; many things beyond our control.  But I am inspired today by a bunch of guys on a football team who believed in their talent, worked hard to develop it, and then demonstrated the power of positive thinking, generosity in the spotlight, and some modicum of humility in victory.

At least, that's the view from here….©

Russell Wilson, Seattle Seahawks Quarterback
http://xfinity.comcast.net/video/wilson-why-not-us/135769155790/fanSports/newest/

ANGRY YOUNG MEN

Last post I revealed that I am a football fan.  I realize not all my friends share this passion.  Some detest it.  Most on the basis of the waste of time, money, and energy spent on a sport that is so physical that there is almost never a game when one or more players doesn't sustain an injury.  There are, thankfully!, new and stricter rules for tackling and protocols in place about evaluating concussion-related injuries and ensuring adequate recovery time before returning to the field (not on the same day, for heaven's sake!)  Still, I know it is a rough game.   It is a game that I was so afraid of when Son-One wanted to play in 8th grade, that I refused to sign the permission slip.  So Hub did.  Hub, who played in high school and college until a knee injury sidelined him.

So, what am I to make of this game I am enjoying so much?  Why do I suspend my usual non-violent tendencies in general to embrace this pastime?  Well, I think it goes back to childhood memories, as I noted in my last post, of sports being a fixture on TV in our home.  I think it goes back to teen years of watching my boyfriend, Hub, on various fields of play.  I think it goes to raising boys who were rambunctious and sports-crazed and sitting, again, at various sports venues to cheer them on. I think it is a vicarious projection of my own inner competitive nature, deeply buried, yet able to come out as a fan.  I think it is the sense of community in joining in the rally around the home team.

Yet…After the game on Sunday in which we won, at the last second, on a defensive play by our star cornerback, Richard Sherman, Sherman was the "go-to" guy for the first sideline interview.  He immediately launched into a rant about his offensive counterpart on the other team and a boast about his own prowess.  I cringed.

He is known for "trash talking", but those across the country don't also know the side of him we in the hometown know of his personal story: a straight A student taking AP classes in the gang-infested neighborhood of Compton CA,  graduating from Stanford,  and developing into the best player of his position in the NFL.  No easy feat.  They don't know how articulate, funny, and friendly he is when he's not 30 seconds from having made the play of his life against his arch-rival.   So, since Sunday, his ill-timed and wrongheaded "interview" has been in an echo chamber of media attention.  Our Quarterback, Russell Wilson, who is relentlessly upbeat, positive and articulately soft spoken has nearly disappeared from view.  He's usually the upfront guy.

Football is a testosterone-fueled game.  It is a game in which "playing with a chip on your shoulder" is used as motivation to do well.  Many players on the Seahawks were passed over or picked late in the draft by many teams before landing in Seattle.  Richard Sherman was drafted in the 5th round -- 23 players at his position picked in front of  him.  Russell Wilson was a 3rd round pick.  Doug Baldwin, the Hawks wide receiver, was an undrafted free agent and is also having a standout year.  All have said they are out to prove their worth…prove to those who overlooked them that they missed out on something special.

Is this "anger", this desire to prove themselves, something to deride or to celebrate?  And when they show their worth on the national stage, having just reached the game that is the pinnacle of every football player's career, the Super Bowl, do we begrudge them a bit of a boast?

Well, I do wish Richard had toned it down just because I knew the firestorm of judgement and controversy it would create.  I appreciate Russell and Doug for the their more soft-spoken joy of accomplishment.  But that's just me and my Scandinavian heritage.  If the underdogs wanna do a bit of howling and growling, I guess that is their due.

The lesson I have learned is that making a snap judgement about a person's "class" or "character" in the heat of an intense moment, without benefit of the fuller story of a person's life, is also ill-advised.  Let's all pause,  no matter the situation, and let the emotion pass.  Then, let's get on with the sport of life --  hard-fought, well-played, and full of celebration.

At least, that's the view from here…. ©

GO HAWKS!

Just got home from lunch with a woman from my writing group.  She noticed the Seahawk button attached to my purse and said, "Are you a sports fan?  I wouldn't have pegged you for that."

Hmmm…well.   I am.  I love watching sports.  Playing not so much -- I'm not naturally athletic and usually it makes me tired, hot, sweaty, sore and frustrated to try to "do"sports.  It's not fun to do, but is great fun to watch.

I grew up in Chicagoland.  I grew up with the Cubs and Sox as part of the summer mosaic.  I grew up with the Bears as the fall and winter soundtrack to family gatherings.  I grew up to date and then marry the star high school pitching ace and game-winning quarterback  (well, those two games they won senior year -- one of them on a quarterback sneak!  Yay Tomcats!)

For the past 2-3 years I've decided to devote myself to watching as much professional football as possible.  I'm loving it!  And this year, our Seahawks are one game away from the Super Bowl.  Tomorrow is the NFC Championship game. This is a very big deal.  Our whole family is crazy-excited.  We have developed rituals and superstitions about what to eat and what to wear on game day.  If we can't catch the game in 'real time' we record it and insist on "media blackout" so we don't learn the score until we've watched the game.

I get that my writing friend was surprised.  In most other aspects of my life one would not guess that Sunday afternoon football brings out the competitor in me, especially the hard-hitting, gut-busting, head-banging kind of competition that professional football inherently just is.

For goodness sakes, I meditate, practice Yoga, chant Kirtan, lead Ecstatic Dance, facilitate women's groups, write poetry and song lyrics and this blog, crochet, and watch Downton Abby faithfully!  I don't drink, smoke, or do drugs.  I eat healthy foods.  I go to church a lot, serve on a ton of committees, only swear a little.   How can it be that I am football crazy?

I don't know.  I just am.  I love the sound of football on TV.  I love trying to learn the game (lots of rules!)  I'm intrigued by the personalities of the players and coaches.  I understand the sense of community and camaradarie of coming together as fans to cheer our team on -- there  is a sense of tribe, a sense of shared mission, a sense of belonging.

Is it big business?  Yep.  Is it violent?  Yep.  Does it glorify athletes far beyond their due?  Yep.  Is it universal and does it serve some deep psychological and/or sociological need?  Yep, yep, yep.  But let's not get too technical here.  It's also fun and entertaining and a nice distraction from the woes of the world.   Enuff said.  GO HAWKS!

At least, that's the view from here… ©