Tag: football

The Big Game

Happy Holidays, my dear friends and readers. I have felt a crazy, needful urge to write all day. I am currently in a hotel lobby in Oregon, on a public computer. I live in Florida. I have just travelled, relatively impromptu, all of the way across the country, smack dab in the middle of the holiday season, because my husband, my true love, never, ever knows what he wants for Christmas. He never asks for anything. He gives us, his family, everything. But this year, he absolutely knew what he wanted for Christmas. My husband wanted to see our college alma mater football team (a team, which he, himself, played for) play in their first ever college play-offs. And so here we are, in rainy, but beautiful and lovely and honestly, gracious and accommodating Eugene, Oregon.

My husband and I met at James Madison University in the quietly gorgeous Shenandoah Valley in Harrisonburg, VA. I met my husband my first weekend at JMU. We just recently celebrated our 31st wedding anniversary in October of this year. Up until lately, James Madison University was relatively/vaguely known/unknown to anyone whom I mentioned that I graduated from there. It is one of those wholesome, best kept secrets in the valley, and for those of us who enjoy living under the radar, we have been happy as clams, to keep it that way. The regional people in the DC/Richmond/Maryland/eastern PA areas are, of course, familiar with JMU and all of its charms and advantages, but it is clearly not one of those “University of . . . . Name the State” whom everyone and their grandmother is familiar with. And that never bothered me. Never. Even when professors at the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University, whom I sold college textbooks to, would smugly proclaim that I would have gotten a much better education had I stayed home to go to school there, I would equally as smugly think in my mind, “Perhaps, but I would not have had the overall, all-together amazing, gentle, kind, prodding but safe cocooning experience into the final phase of my turning into an adult. And even more importantly, I would never have met the love of my life.” James Madison University has something special that’s hard to put into words. It is a protective cottagey greenhouse that lets you bloom in your own way, and in your own time. It’s like having a sweet nanny/fairy godmother who knows your potential but allows you to reach it, just on your own and only when you are ready, planting the seeds, keeping you nourished and nurtured, and slowly filling you with the faith and the confidence which she already has in spades for you. And when the time is right, she gently, and optimistically, sets you free. At least JMU was that way when I was a student there. It’s something in the mountain air there. It’s a secret emanating from its sacred Bluestones that just makes you know how blessed you are to ease into final adulthood there. I once heard someone say that they had never met more people with higher E.Q.s than people who had gone to James Madison University. James Madison is good at making sure that every graduate, graduates as a “whole” person. And is there any better way to go at life than when you are filled with a sense of your own wholeness? Is there any better protective cloak in life than being whole?

Obviously, it goes without saying that I love James Madison University, but we aren’t known for our football team. It’s only in the last five years or so, that JMU has ever made national news, regarding its football team. And that is a huge contrast to the team which we are playing tomorrow. The University of Oregon’s football team has a long legacy of NFL players, Heisman trophy winners and 37 Bowl games under its duckbills. Some football elites are angered that this playoff scenario has even happened. They believe that this “David versus Goliath” experience should not even be allowed, and NCAA rules have already recently been changed to ensure that this won’t likely happen again.

But we are Americans. And we love a Cinderella story. And in my mind, America could really use a Cinderella story right now. I have been to the awe-striking Pacific Northwest previously, but I have never been to Oregon. And it is lovely. It is gorgeous and green and filled with tall, lush, ancient trees. The people here are kind, open-minded, colorful, friendly, and robust. So far, they are treating the many of us East Coast JMU people (many more than I expected to make the trip!), warm-heartedly and with curiosity and consideration. They make me proud to be part of this immensely large and diverse country. I am doing my own best to be a good ambassador of my beloved alma mater, and my own east coast roots and traditions. I want them to feel the same pride and communion which I feel now, even in our competitive spirit tomorrow.

I felt desperate to write this blog post before I came back home, before the game happened even, because it really doesn’t matter the outcome tomorrow. The winning has already happened. The winning has happened for a sweet, not largely known university to make it to the primetime, with guts, grit, brotherhood and a huge belief in themselves. It has happened for a patient, and jubilant fanbase, who excitedly made impromptu plans in the middle of the holidays to make the college football playoffs, at least some part of the plans which were already in place. The winning has happened for a young man and a young woman who met each other one weekend in Harrisonburg, VA and found a love like no other. Sometimes winning is just understanding how is to live in the pure wholeness of your one sweet life and appreciating all the supporting players and systems which have helped you live it, all along the way.

Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.

Once Again

I don’t know if I am alone in this sentiment, but my Januaries tend to be “fits and starts.” My intentions are always full speed, but then I get sidetracked and waylaid and confused and distracted by my bloodhound of a nose whom I call “Curiosity”, with a mix of affection and annoyance. As much as I feel like I should be taking the direct road ahead, full speed, non-stop into 2025, my self-driving car is quick to take the side roads, seemingly longing for the more interesting, intriguing scenic route.

For me, today feels like another one of those “true starts to the new year.” Today is a new moon and the official start of the Asian Lunar New Year. It is said to be an extremely auspicious day for casting out into the Universe, our deepest intentions for the new year ahead. This is supposed to be a highly transformational, spiritual year, by many beliefs and faiths. It’s a year to embrace mystery and wisdom in equal parts.

The other night when my husband and I were watching a football game that was going really, really south, really, really fast for one of the teams, the announcer, Tony Romo said that it is key in any football game/season, for any football team, to “learn from the past, but don’t live in it.” This is an excellent day to take this advice for ourselves. Take wisdom from our lessons of 2024 and from all of the years prior, but at the same time, look forward to, and embrace, the mystery that 2025 and the years beyond it, have to offer us.

On a different note, I recently read that “forests are the lungs of the Earth.” Isn’t that beautiful? When you are in a moment when you need to center yourself, and just get back to your breath, imagine deeply breathing in a beautiful, serene, ancient forest, and just breathe, along with the steady, wise lungs of the beautiful Earth.

Friends, Happy New Year, once again!!

Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.

Soul Sunday

Happy Super Bowl Sunday. There’s excitement in the air for a lot more than just football. There are the commercials (my personal favorite – I was a marketing major, what can I say?), camaraderie, food, and the halftime show. My husband played football throughout high school and even into college. There’s a thought that most men don’t feel comfortable showing any emotion other than anger. I think that a lot of men hold so much of their emotion inside, that what is finally expressed isn’t so much anger as it is more of a brewing pot of stored emotional energy that urgently explodes. Perhaps football is a game of collective explosive emotional energy? Sundays are devoted to poetry on the blog. Today’s poem is offered up by Etsy’s PersonalWordsmith.

Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.

Soul Sunday

Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.

Good morning. Sundays are devoted to poetry on the blog. It is not lost on me that Sunday is a big football day. My husband and two of my sons LOVE football. I enjoy watching it with them, when the football teams that are playing, are teams that I actually care about. In our town, the biggest football drama is off of the field. Everyone is talking about Tom Brady’s and Gisele Bündchen’s disintegrating marriage. There is a saying that women marry men, with the hopes of changing the men, and men marry women with the hopes that the women will never change. Who knew that this saying probably applies to two of the most beautiful, talented, richest, famous people in this world, who at one time also seemed to have the “perfect relationship”? I wrote this poem this morning. It is my view of what Gisele might be thinking and feeling about her relationship.

HER

I wanted you to pick me,

And us,

And everything that we created,

With us, between us, through us.

But instead you picked her,

In all of her ferocious glory.

So dangerous, she could kill you.

On any given Sunday.

But you can’t let her go.

She makes you feel like a god.

I wanted you to pick me,

or at least, I wanted you to pick us,

And everything that we created.

But instead, you picked you.

Mother Bear

Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.

My husband was giddy yesterday, talking about the football games that had happened over the weekend with his officemates. Mondays at the office can be rough, yet my husband seemed to be in a particularly good mood. Football is a unifier. Even if you aren’t a big sports fan, you still usually have “a team” because it is the team of the city where you live, or your city of birth, or the university you attended. You identify with your team and your fellow fans. You feel united with an energy bigger than yourself.

I know that this overwhelming outpouring for the Queen of England, before she is put to rest with Prince Philip, is hard for some people to understand. There is a reason why western civilization has evolved away from monarchies and aristocracies. The Queen herself was essentially a figurehead, yielding not much more than what they call “soft power”, which is more of an influence, than any right to demand. And there are a lot of questions as to whether the monarchy is even necessary, or should be supported, considering its sometimes sordid past.

I believe that the grief which is being shown over the death of Queen Elizabeth, the world over, is an outpouring of the loss of a long-standing, consistent, unflappable, dedicated being whom anyone could claim as their own favorite, if they so chose. In a world so full of change that seems to be happening at the speed of light, a world so full of stark polar opposition in our politics, a world that seems to be questioning and rewriting so many of our long standing traditions, laws, and rituals, we cling to the things that are steadfast. We cling to the people and the things that will be there for us, in some form or other, no matter what else is happening. We cling to football, and “the holidays”, and pizza, and classic movies and ageless songs, and the moon and the stars, and all of the things that have stood the test of time, because these are the things that unite us, and the things that we can mostly agree on (even with playful rivalries). In a world of heightened disagreement and divisiveness, we cling to the things that we can all dedicate ourselves to – we cling to the things that are available to all of us, to claim as our own. We cling to anything that reminds us that despite all of our differences, we all make up one humanity. We cling to the people and the institutions which allow us the shared security and enthusiasm to unite with each other, and to band together over shared loves and losses.

The whole world seems to have lost a symbolic, steadfast grandmother when Queen Elizabeth died. Just like our own grandmothers, she wasn’t perfect. She made mistakes. But she was utterly dedicated and dutiful to her family, to her responsibilities, and to what was required of her. There was no question that the Queen was on the watch, and she wasn’t going to stop, until it was time for her to pass on. I think that so many of us can relate. So many of us have been supported by strong, determined women, who see “their duties” out to the very end, with a steely dedication to do right, by what life has required of them. I mean no disrespect to my male readers here, but in my experience, it comes more naturally for women to fully dedicate themselves to something more than just themselves. Look at nature. No one wants to run into a mother bear. We have lost a universal mother bear. This hollow sadness and almost disbelief which so many of us are feeling about this loss of the longstanding queen – this sadness is something that actually unites us. And that is why we are carrying on our grief, as long as we can. Feeling united feels good, even in times of pain.