Often in life those seemingly ordinary moments hold the most extraordinary meaning. ~ Ken Poirot
On New Year’s Eve day, my husband, 7-year-old daughter, and her friend, set out for the Toyota Center in LA, home to the LA Kings, for an afternoon of skating.
An hour in, my eyes were welling, I was holding back the tears that were desperately seeking to just gush down my face. It was an overwhelming moment. As the Circle of Life echoed through the speakers on the rink, everywhere I looked was a beautiful expression of humanity.
The more I looked, the more the tears welled, the more I saw. In fact, it became so rich, I almost wondered how no one else was crying.
In those 2 hours, I witnessed the most beautiful expression of humanity I have seen. And who would have thought- on a skating rink, just going in circles?!
You see, what I saw was the purest expressions of what makes us happy. So much of our happiness is rooted in our GROWTH, not our outcomes. Our happiness is rooted in the JOURNEY, the path we take to move forward. Not the end result. Our happiness is rooted in experiencing, sensing life – through movement. In our bodies. Seeing what they can do, what they can learn, and how FUN it can be! I saw kids as young as three bundled up, butts padded (they didn’t have those when I learned to skate!), hovering over the blue plastic seal designed to help them stay vertical. I saw them fall and get picked up. They were smiling. As were those who picked them up.
I saw teenage boys in their hockey gear warming up – at extraordinary speeds, perhaps playing a round of partially unidentified tag. They were smiling.
I saw mid-twenties cool-cats on what looked like afternoon dates, clinging to the side of the wall, eyes-wide when they had to go around someone else also clinging to the wall. And when they got past them, yes, they were smiling. Laughing even. Catching each other. The purest joy.
I saw my daughter, learning to skate, willingly hold onto her friend’s hand for support as she walked on those skates, curious about how to glide. I saw my daughter’s friend, yearn for her hand… Come on, Reggie! I got you! They were both smiling. In circles they went for 2 hours.
I watched my husband, the Canadian, who, as the family story holds, learned to skate before he walked… who till this day, plays at this Toyota Center two times a week. I watched him go in circles to the tunes of Frozen, calling it awkward without his hockey stick. Curious how some could actually be having their first day on skates! Curious how these newbies were learning to glide, turn, and stop! Sometimes unintentionally. What a different life path he noticed. He was smiling.
I watched the seasoned figure-skaters in the middle of the rink, coned off, so they could twist, and turn, and jump amidst the newbies, the oldies, and everything in between. I saw their grace, their passion, and desire to skate so bad that they would succumb to a few meters in the middle of a public free-skate. They were smiling. No, they were beaming actually~!
It was a small world on the ice that afternoon. Every race was represented. Every age was present. Everyone seemed to move in the circles with such acceptance for where everyone was on their skating journey. Everyone seemed to be cool with the wall-hugging. Appreciative of the supports, the ice that allowed them to play and experience, the music that held it all together, the challenge to glide with ease with someone they loved.
It got me thinking – where else does this happen? And how come I never noticed the extraordinariness of a skating rink? Of the welcome it offers.
Of the pure acceptance that WHERE YOU ARE IS PERFECT. AND YOU GET TO LEARN. YOU GET TO HOLD ON. YOU GET TO GRAB A HAND. USE A PLASTIC SEAL. YOU GET TO TWIST, AND TWIRL, AND FALL AND LAUGH. WHATEVER YOU NEED TO LEARN IS HERE FOR YOU – BECAUSE IN THE END WE ARE MOST DELIGHTED BY OUR GROWTH, OUR PROGRESS, OUR MOVEMENT IN WHO WE ARE BECOMING.
Since that day, I’ve been thinking about our schools, our ‘places designated as learning centers’, and how we can cultivate JOY for where we are – and where we are going. How we can create the purest acceptance I witnessed on the skating rink. The purest joy of just learning, laughing even at our learning journey, willingly seeking and receiving supports, ENJOYING the journey so much that it took the zamboni entering the rink to encourage everyone to leave.
I bet there are a lot of places that are extraordinary that I often miss, but now I intend to look more closely. Get slow enough, stop taking things so seriously, and just see the beauty we hold as learning creatures, desiring to continue our unfolding.
May you welcome extraordinariness in 2024 – I know for me, more recognition of these moments serves to propel the energy needed for the work to be done.
For our schools, our teachers, our educators, our parents… may you know your extraordinariness, may you know your child’s, may you seek it out intentionally. And may you create more of it so more people on the planet can have better moments.