August 15, 2016

Write (and love) Like An Athlete - Tracy Krauss

I must admit, I am not really into sports. I was the kid who got chosen last for most team sports. It was a painful experience and a practice that I vowed I would NEVER do as a teacher. But the damage inflicted on my childhood psyche is not the object of this post!

When I say I'm not into sports, perhaps I need to rephrase that. I actually enjoy watching lots of sports. My father was a huge sports fan so I grew up with Hockey Night in Canada, Blue Jays baseball, and of course, the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Yup, my blood really does run green during football season - no matter what the win/loss column says.

Which is a nice segue into my next point, actually. Currently, my Riders pretty much suck. But Rider fans like me never give up. We keep watching and cheering (and maybe even wear a watermelon hat on occasion for good luck...) Why do we inflict this kind of pain on ourselves?

FOR THE LOVE OF THE GAME.

Athletes have to train hard. They have to put in the time. They have to persevere through the pain of injuries. (Ask my niece who continued with her competitive figure skating with a broken toe!) This takes determination. As well, athletes often rely on a host of trainers and psychologists and coaches. Even those in individual sports have a 'team' behind them. I could make dozens of comparisons between being an athlete and the writing life. As we've read already this month, Paul even uses sports analogies.

But all of that training, time, and tenacity doesn't amount to much if you don't love the game! 


My husband (in black) handing out medals.
The town of Tumbler Ridge where I live hosts an event each summer called 'The Emperor's Challenge'. (Check out the cool video/website here.) It's a half-marathon up the side of a mountain and about a 1000 people come from all over the place to put themselves through this gruelling race. As a non-sportsy type, I don't get it, but I have a friend who loves this sort of thing. She trains hard-core and travels around the province all summer going to iron-woman competitions and running marathons. Why? It's a common thread among the 'running' set: She LOVES to run.

Some of you may know that I recently lost all of my data, including six new works in progress plus hundreds of other important files. It was a writers worst nightmare come true. After the initial shock (and about five minutes when I thought I might just give up altogether), I realized that just isn't an option for me. Why?

For the love of this game we call writing.


_______________________

Tracy Krauss continues to pump finger weights to keep her fingers strong for clacking away at the keyboard. She lives with her husband of 34 years in Tumbler Ridge, BC.  tracykrauss.com

And she will never cheer for the BC Lions... 

8 comments:

  1. Tracy,
    I was also one who was often chosen last for games. I guess we can't be good at everything :)

    I'm glad you love writing so much. Praying that God will restore the stories you lost in some way.

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  2. I'm still waiting to see if anyone read the the last line of the bio...

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    1. I did, I'm OK with it.

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    2. Great Post Tracy! Although I'm so sad to hear that you lost so much of your writing :'( That would definitely be a discouragement but I glad that your love of writing is going to keep you going.

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  3. Wow! I got stuck on the fact that you lost all your data. About 14 years ago I lost a journal. I wrote the story in the Edmonton Journal and I got all kinds of sympathy for my loss. During the writing period of that Journal, our first grandchild was born and one of our daughters got married. I felt bereft, and I still do when it comes to mind. I can only imagine how discouraging it would be to lose all your data, including six "babes" in the womb. I do hope there is some way to retrieve this.

    I too was picked last for sports teams, but I did once hit a ball through the picture window in our family's living room.

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    1. And now I am celebrating the fact that I got it back! (At a price mind you...)

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  4. Your opening line sounds a lot like me and then I read further to find out that you really are a lot like me. I'm not really into sports either, at least not in the way that some people are. I'm not that die hard fan of a favourite team, although I do watch sports. My son grew up playing sports and I loved watching him. I wasn't raised in a home where sports made the family go round. Still, I will say that I enjoy sports from time to time. And yes, I too was the kid that was picked last. Great story, Tracy.

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