Working in the 'Reel' World
Well it was certainly a different experience than any of the other four Olympics I’ve been to. Being in Beijing as part of the CBC Broadcasting Team was an experience like no other. I’m exhausted. After three weeks of working, training and enjoying the Olympic experience, I feel ready to go back to the relatively simple existence of being ‘just’ an athlete. I knew it would be a tough job and leave satisfied with both the experience and the work accomplished.
What was most strange was being at the Games in this different capacity. I found myself looking at the athletes in awe of their physical presence and mental state. Because of where I’m at in terms of preparation, I felt a long way off the impressive specimens I observed day in and out. I had to remind myself that I was an athlete, too. Even with the training I did during the past three weeks in China, I felt like a slacker compared to the Olympians. Each day I realized more vividly that I, too, get to pursue this Olympic thing. What a gift.
And now, as I travel back to Calgary and think about the days, weeks and months ahead, I feel like I have the best job in the world. Bring on the suffering, the pain, the simplicity of eating, sleeping and training- I’ll take it all with a smile after working in what I suppose is the real world. Not that I didn’t enjoy the work- on the contrary I feel like it was an opportunity of a lifetime that I was able to live fully and grow from. It’s just that it is so awesome to be on the other side of things and be out there putting yourself on the line. At least that’s how I feel because this is what I do. I am not such a good spectator; I’m more of a ‘do’er.
I leave with this perspective that I think it putting me more firmly in the moment than ever. What a place to be as I look into the not so distant future and the 2010 Olympics. Instead of telling the story, I get to try to be the story. However it may unfold.
