Last night was the Closing Ceremonies for the Vancouver Olympic Games 2010, and nowthe Olympics are over for another two years *sad face*. While watching last night, I couldn't help but think about how powerfully I feel about these events and those that participate in them. To me, these are the athletic heroes that should be looked up to if you do that sort of thing. There is something so powerful about watching these individuals or teams strive to achieve their dreams, whether this be to win gold, medal, or do a personal best and all under the auspices of representing their countries. I think those most genuine of emotions devoid of the all interest in money, endorsements, "playing-time", new contract, etc are what make the Olympic games special.
Watching the obscure figure skater from Turkey who has no shot at medal go out to skate simply for the pride at being at the Olympics, or Joannie Rochette skating to honor her recently passed mother, these are what makes the Olympics great. The way the Canadian fans reacted with such vigor as their team took hockey gold or their countrymen won ice dancing Olympic gold. This is also to say nothing of the way the games seem to unite the world through the love of sport.
And in light of the way these games make me feel, I find myself becoming truly angry or annoyed by those who say they didn't watch or weren't going to watch or didn't breathe in the Olympic spirit as I did. This is strange to me. Why do I feel so strongly that everyone should be watching the Olympics? Well I guess to answer my own question...I think it is very much tied to what I laid out above. In my mind the Olympics represent the best of human spirit and nature and of nationalist pride. This is the world's opportunity to unite and live a shared experience that crosses cultures, to put aside differences for a couple weeks. Someone who doesn't feel that it is important be a part of this shared experience saddens me, leaving me to feel as though they have grown cynical of the human spirit or don't feel a rush being able to see people achieve their dreams before your eyes.
At the least, I gave my parents a hard time about this and in the past two weeks have mentally chided others for similar attitudes towards the games. Much like it requested in many Christmas songs to "keep the spirit with you all through the year," I feel that a lot of good can be done if we keep the spirit of the Olympic games going all through the year.
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