September 29, 2024 – Being in the Zone

Ode to taking a moment to breathe… BREATHE… ahh. Feels good. Hello Monday!!

Admittedly, I am a bit “late” on my weekly blog post reflection, but I needed the whole weekend (and a bit more) to rest and recover from last week. For 2024, I wanted to take work at a pace that I wanted to go with and I feel that last week was extraordinary in terms of workload, expectations, and productivity. I feel so grateful to have some grace with a timeline extension, patience and understanding of students, and opportunities to connect with others to make things a bit better.

I can catch my breath now, but I was super tired over the weekend and I almost burned out. I am still a little tired and I had a full 12-hour working day today. I can say tonight, STOP, and take a moment to BREATHE, rest, and blog. I cannot wait to get to bed and have a full night’s sleep. Even this morning I woke a bit anxious thinking about what needed to get done today. I am so glad that all went well. One step at a time… that’s what I need to remind myself… be in the moment. Do you best in the moment. That’s all I can do. And when I do, all works out in the end.

Ha… what a wonderful transition to this week’s blog reflection. THE SCIENCE OF CURLING. When I was in Grade 9, I made a science fair project on the science of curling. I wrote a blog about this before, but it might be in my other WordPress site. Nor here or there, but I remembered why I did that science fair project. I just loved curling. I remember that feeling and I was reminded of that feeling on Friday. Curling on Friday nights is how I end my week before the weekend. This week, it was the late draw. As mentioned, I was so tired from the week. Curling was a lot.

It did not matter. I even left a bit early to meet up with some of my team members to have dinner before the game. Again, I was pooped. I loved my quesadilla, but I was not sure how well the game would go. My skip was still injured, so we had a spare and I was skipping the game again this week. The spare played third (but she is also a skip on other nights). That said, I do enjoy skipping. I forgot that I did. I’m not sure if I forgot, but my confidence and perceived competence to throw the last rock waned for years and I did not want to” rock the boat” joining a new team.

Now being on this team for a few seasons and knowing a few more people of the club, taking over the skip’s position was natural to me and something I wanted to do. I’ve enjoyed the last 2 games skipping and I used to skip competitively in my younger years. Friday’s night game was ALL IN by both teams and we played all 8-ends and I was forced to play my last rock (meaning, the other team did not concede). We had won the game by my last rock, but I threw it anyway to properly close the game. We won 8-4. That’s not the point of my blog post, however.

What I found was my love for curling again. It feels great. I’ve been talking with my assessment class a few weeks ago about the “goods internal to the practice” by Alasdair MacIntyre (1981). I love the moment to moment interactions in the game. I love strategizing. I love throwing the last rock. During that game on Friday, I was so present and IN THE ZONE (with exception of playing a song in my head to keep me awake and focused on the game). The game was not “super serious” but we were all out to play (with the goal of winning the game, but not the focus).

It’s hard to describe this feeling. MacIntyre (1981) would say that the goods internal have no words to describe it. I would agree. Winning, or the goods external, was not the primary drive (for me) during the game. It was the game itself. Miss the shot, make the shot… it did not matter. It was the game itself. Argh. As mentioned, no words to describe the good internal to the practice of curling. But it’s back. I lost this love years ago when soon after the junior provincials and we were “runner-up.” I was motivated externally by another and losing sucked.

Only 3-decades later, I found my love for curling again. INCREDIBLE. I never thought I would find it. I tried and tried… and never succeeded. I had fun and played well at times, but the love was not as intense and clear to me like it was this week. It’s not an overwhelming feeling, but more like a knowing. Despite pure exhaustion from my work week and lack of sleep, I left that game HAPPY. It did not matter the context of each shot, but I took each shot as if they were the same. I was focussed on my technical and intention… and most times it worked out.

I learn so much from CURLING and I am likely going to write more about it. 🙂