I realize I’ve harped for a few days about my new Wii, but I think that’s okay.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s a harp-worthy topic…at least to me.<\/p>\n
Probably every poet in the free world can quote you the Robert Frost line about free verse being like playing tennis without a net.\u00c2\u00a0 I have to admit that I always wondered what was so wrong with that.\u00c2\u00a0 Me and three quarters of the poets of the free world.<\/p>\n
Regardless, I’ve developed a fascination this week for the idea of playing tennis without a ball.\u00c2\u00a0 There is a ball, but it’s imaginary.\u00c2\u00a0 You’re just swinging a remote control around in the air to make the ball move on the screen.\u00c2\u00a0 This is perfect.\u00c2\u00a0 I don’t know why it never occurred to me before to sally forth with a racket and no ball.\u00c2\u00a0 I could have been playing tennis for years if there were no ball to hit.\u00c2\u00a0 The ball was always the problem for me.<\/p>\n
A friend of mine recently posted that she was outing herself as a diabetic.\u00c2\u00a0 I thought how brave and wonderful she was to say that for all of the internets to see.\u00c2\u00a0 I wondered how brave and wonderful I was willing to be.\u00c2\u00a0 So here goes.\u00c2\u00a0 My name is Sharon, and I have rheumatoid arthritis.<\/p>\n
But that’s not what this post is about.\u00c2\u00a0 That’s just a necessary detail to move me along on my Wii tennis story.\u00c2\u00a0 I’m 42, and I’ve known about the arthritis for most of my adult life.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s okay.\u00c2\u00a0 It just means that I don’t adapt well to real sports.\u00c2\u00a0 My injuries don’t just stop by to visit.\u00c2\u00a0 They sign a lease and then make trouble about vacating when their time is up.<\/p>\n
I envision myself as an outdoor person.\u00c2\u00a0 I envision myself playing tennis and basketball and volleyball and soccer.\u00c2\u00a0 But then I’m a poet, and imagination and reality sort of work out best for me the more disparate they really are.\u00c2\u00a0 I am just not a sports person anywhere other than inside my head.<\/p>\n
Nor have I had much luck with aerobics classes.\u00c2\u00a0 I’ve joined classes I’ve loved at various points in my life.\u00c2\u00a0 And there are times when I get along with aerobics okay for weeks or even months on end.\u00c2\u00a0 But you see, if you have rheumatoid arthritis, you don’t just continually get more and more fit the more you exercise.\u00c2\u00a0 You have setbacks.\u00c2\u00a0 Some to greater degrees than others.\u00c2\u00a0 Your setbacks have setbacks.\u00c2\u00a0 You become a cycle of setbacks.\u00c2\u00a0 And then you give up for a time, and that just makes everything worse.\u00c2\u00a0 Whatever else happens, moving on along to engage in that cycle of setbacks is the best you can do.\u00c2\u00a0 It means you are still using all of your moving parts, and that is a brave and wonderful thing.<\/p>\n
And so I come to what playing tennis without a ball means to me.\u00c2\u00a0 I love it.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s a real game against an opponent, not just a repetitive loop of a TV aerobics teacher.\u00c2\u00a0 I can win or lose.\u00c2\u00a0 I can see statistics on how well I’m playing.\u00c2\u00a0 I can set goals for myself.\u00c2\u00a0 And if I have sometimes felt like an otter in a sea of French poodles when I’ve tried to go to aerobics classes, at home in my living room I can embrace my inner otter if I want.\u00c2\u00a0 But best of all, there is no impact, and therefore there is no pain.<\/p>\n
Better than best of all, I have loosened up the stiffness in my shoulders and elbows considerably in just a few days of playing Wii sports, and playing quite badly I might add.<\/p>\n
I feel like I’ve found a way to move forward, and those footholds on forward aren’t always easy to locate.<\/p>\n
Anyone’s study of the human body would tell you that more data than can be collected in just a few days is necessary to discern the trends from the flukes, but I don’t care about that right now.\u00c2\u00a0 I care about the fact that I’m starting out a school year feeling like I have it in me to pull myself together enough to not just endure but prevail.<\/p>\n
I spent money I shouldn’t have on this Wii.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s the best shouldn’t have I’ve squandered away since buying my stress reducing digital camera.<\/p>\n
People seem to disagree on how many calories can actually be burned this way.\u00c2\u00a0 Possibly I’m burning no more than I would standing around talking with my hands to friends.\u00c2\u00a0 But that’s just not what this is about.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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