AVP Muskegon -> AVP Denver
Fighting for a spot. Clutching, swinging, grinding, sliming. Whatever it takes. I had drifted into this flowy way about me. It felt nice for a while. But it felt equally nice, and more, to reach deep into the roots and start fighting for it again. Deep in the DNA. The spirit is alright with the live and let live. The spirit can see the benefit in everyone being a winner. In the deeper picture. The body, the survivalist, the competitor, the fire, sees benefit in the grind, in the press, in the fight for our lives and the things we hold dear. The fire had been percolating this year, but it’s out to play for good. For as long as this body will let me. For as long as someone on the other side of the net, will battle tooth and nail, skin and bones, colliding, high flying, Volleyball is not a contact sport so we have to create that adrenaline, we have to create those jarring moments, that blasting struggle.
Muskegon delivered that. We were in a battle. Set 1, day 2, down a few in game 1 against Priima/Tucker. Some history to be had. Lev had not lost a qualifier in what seemed like 10 years. Lila is an obvious stuff. It wouldn’t be easy. Back against the wall early. We would have to fight. To go right at them, and give them everything we had. Whether wars of words, or fierce deep corner bombs we would have to blast through this very worthy adversary. And we did, and we qualified. It felt hard to hate two dear friends on the court. It felt hard to fight like never before. But it felt good to lay down the worry of that competitive space, and just give it everything again.
There’s something refreshing about stepping to the end line, with the game on the line and batting down that internal thought of doubt and pushing the body to give the very last bit it has in the tank. Oh boy it feels good. I don’t think we know how much fight we truly have in us. And I venture to see how far I can take that journey between the lines,. Within reason of course. Fire and flow. Burn a hole in someone, fire in the gut. And let it ebb and flow, and dance and blow furiously into a space of free exotic and exquisite air. Settle into that space with some deep breaths, using those hormones for focus and deliberate execution. A sharpness and a clarity in this space. Fire burning cells open, burning away the past. and anything blocking us from a freedom of this bodily vessel. Useful.
We would battle to 1 more tough win, in which Noah found a gust of something Godly on his way to what felt like a singlehanded victory against a very, very difficult team to detonate, Cook/Webber. And we ground our way into the semis, gratefully. A deep feeling of belonging and pride, and what very well could in the mystery, prove victorious. It was not, as we were vanquished by Kolinske/Cory in 3. We ran out of gas after 7 long battling matches lakeside. Proud. But, inexcusable. We gave it everything we had, but were we the most prepared we could be? Rested? Water, good food, stretched. I felt I put in good work that week, but there’s always more. And to have Noah cramping again, and to feel like I had to dig to the deepest reserves of all time to get back into game 3, I feel both grateful for the grit and proud of the energy expended, but also hungry to give even more in between and find a new level of strength and sufficiency to survive and thrive in the depths of a tournament. I have nearly never been there before, and in this newfound space, we hope to be better prepared in the future. Or, we laughingly agreed, that we could just win a couple games early and stay in the winner’s bracket. Wouldn’t that be nice, huh? haaaaa.
Moving forward - Noah is getting married on the weekend of AVP Denver, so I will be taking this heart to a one tourney rental with Mr. Ed Ratledge, a man on a mission to keep his career going and a fire to boot. A grateful crazy spirit, rest assured, he’s in correct company in that regard. We will be getting weird, and swirling and whirling, our magical little way as far as our beating hearts, and dreaming minds can take us. Until then - it’s time to get better in all other capacities, and have fun, relax and enjoy the ride in between.
