Olympicky

So this weekend was spent educating myself in the art of living life. Late nights, early mornings, sprinting, jogging, walking, spanning several cities without time to stop. I guess today is that time to reflect on what an amazing weekend it's been. This isn't a journal of the event-reflection type; it's a tale of my experiences. Enjoy.

Waking up Saturday morning knowing I'd be going to see an Olympic hockey game in Vancouver was really no biggie to me. How crazy is that? What a privilege it is to be able to go to an event, I was totally unprepared for the experience in terms of thankfulness. Getting into the stadium we found that our seats, which were sold to us for half price thanks to the work of Leah's mom, were centre ice 3 rows from the glass. The atmosphere combined with the view made the experience unforgettable. To see so many people with such joy and pride in their nations is an awesome experience. The game was a brilliant, back and forth event eventually building to a Swiss victory.

Leave the stadium, packed into a crowd of thousands, to sing the anthem full volume on the streets of Vancouver. Who decided that the anthem should be restricted to classrooms and sports events? Should our thankfulness and pride of our amazing country be restricted as well? It's a beautiful thing to see people embracing their country, and all thanks to the Olympics for channelling this pride.

Downtown, at this point, would have to wait. Time to head back to Langley for soccer. Not a bad game, but the details I'll spare you. Suffice to say, lots of running, lots of shooting, little scoring. No biggie, it happens.

Back to surrey, shower, back to Vancouver. Gotta see that torch. If you haven't, you must. From the torch, with a dilemma between inside or outside the city, we chose to head outside. We walked along the water, holding hands, laughing, romantic, etc. More details to (hopefully) follow in a special post.

Time really flies when you're stopping to smell the roses. I suppose the trade is worthwhile though. The seconds and minutes of life are best spent with the ones you love, and if that's the case, why bother keeping a running count? Quality time needn't be measured in minutes, but rather moments.

Anyways, late nights as I said, so it was time to head home for bed.

Church. Old faces, new plans. Vancouver again, this time following volleyball. Canada loses to the US, but no big deal, it takes us off the unbeatable pedestal. Time to hit up Livecity.

We arrive at Livecity just in time to see the fireworks display. It was absolutely amazing, and definitely worthwhile to check out. From there, we wander. Everywhere you look you see red and white, and hear cheers and jeers. America, BOO! Canada, yay! Perhaps more foul, but that's the simplified version. We walk to Robson Square, chill out to some live blues music, people all around are dancing and having a great time. The city is alive. Lights, music, dancing, singing, the city is alive.

This brings me to my main point. Why host the Olympics? Why not? Are there better things the money could be spent on? Definitely. Would it be sent there if there were no Olympics? Definitely not. Our city needed this. The excitement and joy is an investment in the capacity for kindness in our citizens. The euphoria surrounding the downtown core is palpable. Where will this excitement go? That's up to us. We are given so much, and provided with such an opportunity to celebrate, one can only hope that when the games conclude, and when all the parties stop, we are not only closer to one another, but that we are also thankfully looking for what we can do to maintain and grow this joy in others.