There's a Reason he's the Master...

"To study the Way is to study the self.
To study the self is to forget the self.
To forget the self
is to be enlightened by all things."

~ Zen Master Dogen (1200-1253 AD)

Michael Hickey blows my mind yet again. He's been awfully indulgent of me, as I work myself into a frenzy, wondering about what life will be like as I travel down this path, wondering how to maximize the time that I have to train, wondering how to train most effectively, wondering how to ski.

So basically what happens is this. We shoot a couple of emails back and forth, and after I have come up with enough insanity, we get together, and I download all my worries and concerns and questions (I feel a bit like my 5 year old here... why? how? why? how? and then what???), and Michael, in his very knowledgeable and Zen like manner (ZEN?? MICHAEL HICKEY?? Are we talking about the same guy?) OOOhhh, yes. This is not 1974, and he is the Zen master.

He tells me some stories. He asks me some questions. He gives me things to read and to watch. And then he pedals off into the distance, and we start all over again.

Because inevitably, the questions he answers he does in a way that lead to more questions, so here I am, sitting on my couch, my brain totally full of information, sorting through it, and really astounded at the sort of BASIC truths underlying what we talk about. Its all really simple.

Today, I am pondering what it means to have your body cross the line of your skis rather than to send your feet away from your body. This will keep me occupied until I get down to Colorado on the 17th and ski it and try to see what happens. This will be frustrating and difficult for me, because I felt like I made huge significant changes in my skiing on the last day at Hood, but its INTERESTING because I made changes in the IMAGE, but not changes in the FUNCTIONALITY of my skiing.

I decided (without Rob asking me to, I was supposed to be focusing on my consistent, purposeful platform shape) to send my skis away from my body, like Troy, who was skiing ahead of me. It was a bit exhilarating, because I had to let go quite a bit and trust that the platform would be there for me to push against, even though it was far away from my body.

Now, I get to turn that around in my head, and try to send my BODY away from my FEET who are making the line they are making. Innnnnneresting. Innnneresting.

Gonna go watch the Canadians ski now.