There are somethings I find absolutely beautiful: flowers, babies laughing, dog faces and well made food.
There are things that are contextually beautiful, like a moment of compassion or tenderness in the midst of chaos, but I never thought much about non-elite athletes, motion and beauty before. There certainly have been posts here about the different kinds of bodies elite athlete have, and yes, I think those bodies are quite beautiful. I loved Catherine’s post on Athleticism is Beauty so maybe that is where this post came from.
I was riding with Sam and Dave last weekend, bringing up the rear so to speak, when I was struck by how beautiful it is to see two cyclists who can perfectly match each other’s pace and ride really close to each other. Unlike running, where I seldom see anyone once we start, cycling and swimming let me see other bodies in motion and it is awesome. It’s more than mere movement for me, it’s the skill of an efficient and effective propulsion of a body through space and time.
The thing is, I don’t really like watching sports, I like doing more. Baseball is a great example. It’s fun to play but watching a live game is like pouring lemon juice on paper cuts for me. Spectators are far away and the action is quite short lived.
Riding along a road at 20 km/hr (that’s fast for some but slow for most road cyclists) I feel a little part of the action and I appreciate the skill differential between me and my friends. I find that in yoga too, all the bodies doing the poses are beautiful. For me, when something is beautiful my breath catches a little bit and I’m noticing more and more I get to have those moments.
What things in fitness and sports do you find breath catching or beautiful?
