As a therapist, I cannot embrace her hard enough! In a world where it seemed perfectionism and stress and pressure were mandatory, she showed everyone that they are optional. And truly, they are optional for all of us.
This is one reason I follow you. You aren’t afraid to say when you got something wrong. And that honestly and vulnerability is so rare these days. Keep being you!
Perfectly stated, Laura. I watched in awe as she was just herself, relaxed and confident and having the time of her life, and wished I could embody that spirit. And then I realized, I can. And you know what? My time practicing piano today was joyful and fun, and the best I have ever practiced (I'm 66 and 6 months in to lessons). May we all embrace Alysa's joie de vivre about our own lives.
My husband is a high school coach, so nothing like an Olympic coach, but...his #1 philosophy is - Running is what we do; not who we are. And then proceeds to follow it up with characteristics - brave, dedicated, hardworking, etc. to show who we are.
And I think that is the point of Alysa. She is a brave and fun; she expresses it through figure skating.
As an elder millennial, I love that younger generations are rejecting the grind and hustle culture that led so many of us to impressive careers, but extremely burned out and depressed. Her joy is contagious. It also made me think of something the gals at Pants Politics talked about at the end of today’s episode-Norway always does phenomenal at the Winter Olympics but their approach to sports is way more laid back than the US in general.
She was so delightful and fun a bit of “hippie” spirit. She picks everything now, music, dress, coaches, she has the final say on even choreography. And so she just embraces things she loves and wants to present it to us a her gift and it showed! We were all smiling with her and cheering her on!
Side note, Amber let the pressure go and skated fantastic go and came up 8 places!
The pure joy in her face ... in her attitude ... in her hair. I researched her hair -- rings on a tree -- represents time. Her skate was just SO HAPPY.
I love this and had so many of the same thoughts. Alysa and Mikaela Shiffrin both seemed to embrace the same spirit of doing it for the joy of what they love and not the intense pressure of a medal. And we watched them both soar. There's a lesson there in what really brings us joy.
The difference was so clear in the way I felt in my own body watching her. I felt in my soul that if she did fall or make a mistake, she was going to be ok. She was having fun, and inviting us to join her! With so many other skaters, we watch with our hearts in our throats, because we know that everything is about this moment, this medal. With Alysa, we get an invitation to joy no matter the outcome.
Agreed! And this is why I mostly don’t like watching the Olympics. The stakes are high and it’s mostly young people. I hate feeling like a mistake (even a small one!) costs them so much.
I will be honest that as a 48 yr old mom I had the same thoughts about Alysa's hair. I did however love her golden dress. I just watched her routine this afternoon and you could feel her joy.
I had the same initial reaction to her hair but I agree, it was joyful to watch her skate and be in such a mentally healthy space. 🙌🏻
P.S. The Dorothy Hamill haircut was the bane of my 4th-grade existence as my mother insisted I have that hairstyle bc she couldn’t deal with long hair 😂
As a therapist, I cannot embrace her hard enough! In a world where it seemed perfectionism and stress and pressure were mandatory, she showed everyone that they are optional. And truly, they are optional for all of us.
This is one reason I follow you. You aren’t afraid to say when you got something wrong. And that honestly and vulnerability is so rare these days. Keep being you!
Perfectly stated, Laura. I watched in awe as she was just herself, relaxed and confident and having the time of her life, and wished I could embody that spirit. And then I realized, I can. And you know what? My time practicing piano today was joyful and fun, and the best I have ever practiced (I'm 66 and 6 months in to lessons). May we all embrace Alysa's joie de vivre about our own lives.
I see you pressing publish on this POST! Already living out that word of the year.
😘 (Seriously, thank you for seeing me in this!!)
My husband is a high school coach, so nothing like an Olympic coach, but...his #1 philosophy is - Running is what we do; not who we are. And then proceeds to follow it up with characteristics - brave, dedicated, hardworking, etc. to show who we are.
And I think that is the point of Alysa. She is a brave and fun; she expresses it through figure skating.
As an elder millennial, I love that younger generations are rejecting the grind and hustle culture that led so many of us to impressive careers, but extremely burned out and depressed. Her joy is contagious. It also made me think of something the gals at Pants Politics talked about at the end of today’s episode-Norway always does phenomenal at the Winter Olympics but their approach to sports is way more laid back than the US in general.
I’m 63 and I loooove her hair and she had fun!
Same! She was so inspiring in her joy and self expression!
She was so delightful and fun a bit of “hippie” spirit. She picks everything now, music, dress, coaches, she has the final say on even choreography. And so she just embraces things she loves and wants to present it to us a her gift and it showed! We were all smiling with her and cheering her on!
Side note, Amber let the pressure go and skated fantastic go and came up 8 places!
The most refreshing post I've read all day.
Your post has me thinking, what if I could inject more joy into the process of achieving my goals rather than white knuckling it?
I’ve been thinking the same thing!
Reminds me of THE ARTIST WAY— she is in the flow, accepts herself as an artist, and I wonder if she does morning pages ❤️❤️❤️
The pure joy in her face ... in her attitude ... in her hair. I researched her hair -- rings on a tree -- represents time. Her skate was just SO HAPPY.
I love this and had so many of the same thoughts. Alysa and Mikaela Shiffrin both seemed to embrace the same spirit of doing it for the joy of what they love and not the intense pressure of a medal. And we watched them both soar. There's a lesson there in what really brings us joy.
The difference was so clear in the way I felt in my own body watching her. I felt in my soul that if she did fall or make a mistake, she was going to be ok. She was having fun, and inviting us to join her! With so many other skaters, we watch with our hearts in our throats, because we know that everything is about this moment, this medal. With Alysa, we get an invitation to joy no matter the outcome.
Agreed! And this is why I mostly don’t like watching the Olympics. The stakes are high and it’s mostly young people. I hate feeling like a mistake (even a small one!) costs them so much.
I will be honest that as a 48 yr old mom I had the same thoughts about Alysa's hair. I did however love her golden dress. I just watched her routine this afternoon and you could feel her joy.
I had the same initial reaction to her hair but I agree, it was joyful to watch her skate and be in such a mentally healthy space. 🙌🏻
P.S. The Dorothy Hamill haircut was the bane of my 4th-grade existence as my mother insisted I have that hairstyle bc she couldn’t deal with long hair 😂
I had that same Dorothy Hamill haircut for the exact same reason. I looked like a chipmunk!!