- Life: Basketball
I played football and basketball in high school and threw the discus for track. The only one I was any good at was football, but basketball has become an enduring love. I think it's the freedom and creativity of basketball that I find so exhilarating compared to other sports.
I've been a gym rat for most of my life right up until the covid pandemic closed all the gyms. Now I have to wait for favorable weather windows and available hoops at city parks and playgrounds to get out and do my thing. I had to give up competing in actual basketball games some time ago, but I still have a solo shooting and dribbling and chasing-the-ball routine (mostly chasing) that I try to do regularly.
Why am I writing here about basketball? It's both a counterpart and a complement to my yoga practice. There's something about shooting an object through the air toward a target, whether a basketball toward a hoop, or a wad of paper toward a trash can, that I find deeply satisfying.
Also, forgive me for bragging, I'm ambidextrous. I can shoot off the dribble with either hand from 3-point range. I have always written, drawn, eaten, etc., with my left hand, but I played sports predominantly right-handed until just a few years ago. I think yoga has something to do with this recent development.
- Conclusion
Yoga and basketball bring me to flow, the mental state often referred to as 'being in the zone'. Basketball is the sport where you hear that phrase most often. I think maybe my solo shooting routine is not so much about exercise as it is about finding 'the zone'.
I worry about when I will no longer be able to achieve the release I get from running around and dribbling and shooting baskets in an open space. I plan to keep doing it as long I'm able. It doesn't feel yet like I should consider quitting.
I claim to have evolved during my time away from design. Shooting hoops on asphalt courts has been part of that evolution.