April 4, 2010

Odd Windows of Opportunity

I am a white girl, brought up in a secluded white culture, focused on Classical music education, playing my violin, talking about life and philosophy and growth, knowing nothing about sports, never coming in touch with drugs or violence or whatever else that's out there. To an extent, here's a limited me, that I've taken up to expand in all possible directions.
Then there's boxing. What do I know about boxing? Why would I want to know anything about boxing? Boxing plays no part in my life, like a Pluto that's not even a planet anymore.
I was taken to watch boxing last night. At first, my face was flat. Sure, I said, why the heck not? I can watch a boxing match. Who cares about me always avoiding seeing or engaging in any physical altercations? Who cares about the most irrelevant situation I was placed into? And who cares that the match started at 9pm when I was actually very tired?
It took me a moment to reframe the situation. Okay, I said to myself. If I'm already here, I might as well use it to my advantage. Let me just see what it's about and learn about something I never knew or saw. It's my choice to utilize this opportunity or reject it, just like I've done many times before.
Later, guess what? The match lasted for 3.5 hours and even though I was exhausted by the end, I never lost the thread of attention that bound me to the screen. I laughed and cringed and expressed my discontent, depending on what I saw. My mind never stayed at surface level. Does it ever? I saw more than the screen showed.
Did I expect to gather what I gathered when the match was over? No. I used an odd window of opportunity to learn and it envigorated me.
Repeated conclusion: Every situation has a world in it and even when it might look strange, it's often worth to plunge into. 

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