Extreme-ism

i love this woman. her name is erin stern and she has won the highest honor in bodybuilding, the olympia. i love that she posted this picture to remind everyone what a process it is to reach the place in her sport that she has reached. the left is from her first show in 2003 and the right is from olympia 2011. the last blog i wrote was about taking one's time with things and this picture spoke to me.

it started off a little flurry of comments and it amazed me that no one said anything really admirable other than a blip about discipline. the comments were overwhelmingly not in favor of erin's look for olympia. there was one comment that really got me thinking and it was about how extremes are not healthy in any way, mentally, physically etc. i got to thinking about extremes and about the stigma that bodybuilding has, especially for women.

what if i had posted this picture?

or this one?

these are both inspiring women who are at the top of their fields. the first is a russian ballerina (i stole the pic from the new york times article about her dancing at city center) and the second is the winner of the 2012 boston marathon last week.

both of these are extremes that would have been applauded, not instantly criticized. professional ballerinas are artists and athletes and their artform takes a tremendous toll on them physically. they break and deform their feet and maintain extremely low levels of body fat because that is what is seen as "ideal" in their world. they are seen almost unanimously as beautiful in their "extreme-ness." people do not say, "oh, she did that to be sexy or desirable." they understand that it's passion, for the most part, that drives these ballerinas.

the marathon runner has the ideal body for her sport and her sport is extreme by any stretch of the imagination and generally distant from the debate of beautiful or not. there is no debate about whether the extreme-ness of this sport is ok or somehow shallow on some spiritual level.

opera singers are extreme in the field of singing. while not a "sport," opera is a highly tuned physical undertaking that must be done with great care so as not to cause permanent physical damage to the singer's cords. one could argue that the professional opera singers pay for their passion not so much physically (although there is a toll that is taken from the constant traveling and need to be able to sing on a dime) but emotionally. with this form of expression there is never a debate about whether said singer is doing this to "feel pretty."

i can see how bodybuilding can be perceived as a "meathead" occupation undertaken by folks with no self esteem so that the opposite sex will find them attractive. i used to think that. i was the most judgemental person of them all. when i saw pictures of shredded girls, i would be the first to say, "oh, how disgusting," rather than seeing the work, discipline and passion that went into sculpting a living canvas into the "ideal" for the sport. what is "ideal" in each discipline varies. what works for one won't work for another and so i think the debate of what is healthier or "better" should be kept within the confines of the sport at hand.

the new wave of bodybuilders, and what attracted me to the sport in the first place, are very vocal about the inner journey, self-care and helping others. it isn't so much look at me for the sake of look at me. it's about showing what the body can do when there is exercise and nutrition involved. it's nearly an art form in which a foundation is created and then the surface fat eliminated so that, for one day, the underlying structure is revealed in its very human glory.

i think that going to an extreme such as being the best in the world at what you do is applaudable provided that the primary motivation is that the thing you are doing lights up your soul. there is not really any evidence that we come round this life more than once, so i am all for finding your passion and going after it as far as you want.

my motivation for everything i do is to expand love and joy and to help others from my place of expanded joy. any other motivation will leave me unfulfilled ultimately. i left academia knowing it would disappoint those people who saw me as having a future there because it didn't leave me breathless and happy. i think that continuing in something because one is talented and others expect it is as sure a failure as any because there is no inside payoff, no joy. be a bank teller or a restaurant manager if that speaks to you. find what makes you happy and share the joy with others. the ultimate balance is finding peace within.

i will leave you with a quote from one of my favorite fitness girls, jamie eason.

"i hope to leave a legacy as a person who truly loves people and is passionate about helping them."

she is on the cover of ironman.