"Putting on a pair of skates and putting oneself on the ice will bring out any structural imbalance that remained hidden in everyday life of just walking around." Is what a coach to the Olympians told me at the Salt Lake City rink. She restored my resolve, which quite honestly was fading somewhat.
I've been on the ice since perhaps last May, on custom made Harlick Skates, the best of the best. My right skate insisted on resisting to glide and I always felt like I would fall, and sometimes did, especially at my attempts at learning to skate backwards.
The frustration in this would have made anyone, including me, want to just give up. There were days I would just cry on the ice because my dream of skating seemed to be sabotaged with this resistance that seemed out of my control to overrun with my sheer will. Every skate session turned into a process of overcoming frustration with only brief moments of the joy I was seeking in this pursuit. If I didn't have the world's most beautiful skates, I probably would have shelved this dream and just continued writing, playing my violin and my other creative pursuits.
But I don't give up. Every time I wanted to just get off the ice, I'd make myself go back on with an even stronger resolve to not let anything stop me. I would look at this process as a spiritual expansion, because it WAS. To NOT GIVE UP ON ONE'S DREAMS DESPITE THE OBSTACLES.
I had blade adjustments several times, an assortment of coaches' advice and finally, the pro at Skatetown Ice Arena told me, after watching me skate that I have an ankle pronation and a sports podiatrist could address this with orthotics. I promptly made an appointment and the orthotics are being made.
Meanwhile, as timing is perfect in all things whether or not it is what we think we want, not skating with my Coffee Club Goddesses weekly, I have been in the studio with my "Dream Team" - recording Mantra Music and revising the website, upgrading it to be a work of art showcasing all the aspects of my creativity. I also had time to revised my first book, THE CHE DIARIES, and very soon the second edition will be available through Amazon. This focused time in the studio has caught the momentum, free from interruption from my skating days to get my music promoted and is now #1 on the charts of Spiritual music in Nevada City, #4 globally and #5 Nationally on a site called ReverbNation. The commentary on my music from those that have heard it throughout the world is amazing, and I invite you all to go see what I've been doing during my time off the ice.
I've also acquired a Nano, wireless headset and armband to hold the little technical device and loaded onto it all my David Garrett music that I have been listening to for months doing amazing figure skating routines to in my head. Skating without music is like learning to dance without music - just can't be done joyfully and with the flow that music provides.
So I am READY for the day those orthotics go into my skates to get back out on the ice and FEEL THE GLIDE. I am skating to not only pursue my own childhood dream, but to share this experience to uplift and inspire those who have raised children and put their dreams aside to do it, or even forgotten what those dreams are. And one day, some day, I will be able to do a spin, a jump and one of those routines that are in my head, I will actually do on the ice!
