In my "free time" I coach a club swim team. This is a competitive team of kids ages 8-18. Imagine the travel baseball or volleyball clubs high shcoolers belong to--this is the swimming equivalent. I work primarily with our two intermediate groups (ages 9-11 "voyagers" and 11/12-14 "challengers"). The two groups are distinctly different because of their different focus and different coaching staff.
The Voyagers work their butts off as do the Challengers. The Voyagers also have an indescribable, uninhibited joy, not necessarily about swimming, but about LIFE. They welcome me to the pool with literally open arms and smiles. They splash in the pool until we yell at them to stop. They want to play skill-related games. They want to race each other. They laugh.
During yesterday morning's practice, while were doing a kick set with snorkels and fins, they asked "can we make whale sounds?" Who asks that? Who has those sorts of ideas? These kids do.
My answer: be the best orca you can be.
The result:
A few weeks ago, I was thinking about one spunky, joyful girl while on a bike ride. She's the kind that can get sort of annoying because she's loud and excited and repeats herself when she's not listened to. For example, after she finishes to the wall, she will repeat "move so they can finish" in a sort of funny voice to all her lane-mates until they all move out of the way. I found myself getting a bit emotional hoping that no one ever squashes that joy for her. We've all seen it happen, someone joyful is called annoying a few times and the joy dissipates. This is how bitter, cynical humans are made.
I believe in joy
not annoying
I believe smiles are special
and shouldn't be taken for granted
I believe kids have the secrets to authenticity
and so I learn from them every day
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