Tuesday, August 08, 2006
THE ZEN OF HULA HOOPING
Okay, I wrote a book that I'm pretty proud of and I make it a point to brag about my kids at least once a day. But my real claim to fame is that when I was ten, I was the hula hoop champion of Brockton, Massachusetts. Or at least, the East Side of the city. All right, maybe it was just my street (a dead end with three houses on it). But it's not the title that matters, right? It's how I felt when I got that baby spinning around my hips: like a master.
And who says you can't learn about life from standing in your back yard painting circles through the air with the motion of your hips? One thing I discovered is that as soon as you start worrying about who's watching or how silly you look or who's doing it better, it's all over.
I have a post up on the Killer Year Blog on the subject. It deals with writing, but the message applies to any kind of hula hoop you're trying to keep in the air.
I suppose my claim to fame would be that I won an ice-cream eating contest when I was 12 and it was televised on the local television news. I have never felt more like a star!
Here's to hula hoops and ice cream!
mb: Thank you!
floots: And fine wordhips they are!
paris: Thanks for being my first commenter over there and for your kind words about the book. When I come to Paris, we'll have to get a couple of hula hoops, find a park and relive our childhoods.
r: I've got a couple of them on the deck waiting for the challenge.
amishlaw: That sound you just heard was my hoop clattering to the floor.
But seriously, thank you for your most generous words. (Love the new photo by the way.)
I never liked the twist but loved the hula hoop and still do!
O
"You know, for kids"
-Hudsucker Proxy.
the post at Killer Year Blog is great commentary - so true, Patry!
Am I "on topic"...or straying rather off-course?
Oh yes and another use, two hula hoops tied toggether with string made a wonderful crinolene support for a play I was in :-)
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