Excellent writing Andrea! I do mourn Dominic’s retirement. I know that he will find other “Grand Slams” in his life that will definitely change his life. What a wonderful person he is!
Each mountain to climb is so different isn’t it?
May we all reach the top of many mountains! 🏔️❤️🙏🏼🫶🏽💪🏽
Another remarkable column. Your pieces are appointment reading for me to begin with, but this one really was breathtaking in putting the ambitions, then emptiness, into perspective.
Uber wealthy people have been asked why they keep working, why they put in 18 hour days, 7 days a week, and haven't taken a vacation, ever. What do many of them say? "Money is just a scorecard. I don't think about spending it. I think about how I can get more than I had before, and more than the next richest guy. That's what's satisfying, but always for a moment, because there's always tomorrow, and the chance to add to the scorecard and the chance that the next guy will catch up to me or even pass me. The awfulness of the last part is terrifying."
In the classic hero myth the hero reluctantly sets out on a quest, has many trials, triumphs and is transformed. It's more about a "shift of consciousness," a psychic shift that transforms them, so if/when they return home they are prophets: Jesus, Buddha, even Neo of "Matrix" fame.
Read Joseph Campbell. George Lucas used Campbell's hero quest model for Luke Skywalker, even consulted Campbell for the film.
But Campbell's hero is not just the Homeric or Tolkien or modern film hero. The psychic shift is psychological, and we can all be a hero in our own lives without laying siege to Troy--or winning a slam.
Winning a slam is a great achievement, but in and of itself it doesn't make one a "hero" in the classic hero myth sense of having some transformative/transcendental shift of consciousness. If Thiem is a hero it's that he did battle. The rest is just keeping score.
Andrea, since you mentioned walking in the woods I recommend Bill Bryson's "A Walk In the Woods." It's so well written that Hollywood couldn't resist making a bad Bromance out of it. But I suggest you read the book. It's elegiac and funny both. You're a good writer; you'll enjoy reading a good writer.
Great quote by Thiem, i.e grand slam did not change his life. Now I understand why he never really came back after his injury. He had worked sooo hard to achieve his goal , and when he finally did he was disappointed by the reward!
There are only a couple of categories of “retirement” from a sport. It’s a pyramid. For most, to say “I played X in school” is code for saying “…..until I had to grow up.”. It’s not a “real” retirement. At the other end of the pyramid, up at the tip, it’s “we won’t get to see Rafa play for a final again” well, that’s real, Nadal, and Theim, and our correspondent Andrea exist in a world where they were not just “playing” a sport, they were involved with a very real profession few experience - the experience of “just how good can I become”. Of course no particular win changed their life, they are not actually playing just for the wins, they are playing against their own limitations. They are not really just retiring from pro tennis, they are retiring from the journey itself.
Striving is what we are programmed to do, we are hunter gatherers first - then warriors, dancers, farmers, artists, capitalists - in some order after that. So striving is a lifelong practice. Winning the US Open is like killing a deer or finding a vine full of grapes, it's a triumph in the short term but it cannot, by itself, sustain you. We know this and we don't. I won something last year that I had been trying to win for twenty years. I didn't expect to ascend to another plane of being but I thought I might feel some sense of achievement. Not really. In life, as you argue brilliantly here, a goal is a beginning rather than an end. When you get to the top of the mountain you might admire the view for a bit, but really what you have reached is the start of a descent.
Wonderful writing as always, Andrea! I was sad I couldn’t figure out how to watch the Lux Ladies Masters Tournament here in the states. TC+ didn’t carry it. I’m also sad to see Domi retire, but I understand it. I wish him all the best.
Excellent writing Andrea! I do mourn Dominic’s retirement. I know that he will find other “Grand Slams” in his life that will definitely change his life. What a wonderful person he is!
Each mountain to climb is so different isn’t it?
May we all reach the top of many mountains! 🏔️❤️🙏🏼🫶🏽💪🏽
Another remarkable column. Your pieces are appointment reading for me to begin with, but this one really was breathtaking in putting the ambitions, then emptiness, into perspective.
Uber wealthy people have been asked why they keep working, why they put in 18 hour days, 7 days a week, and haven't taken a vacation, ever. What do many of them say? "Money is just a scorecard. I don't think about spending it. I think about how I can get more than I had before, and more than the next richest guy. That's what's satisfying, but always for a moment, because there's always tomorrow, and the chance to add to the scorecard and the chance that the next guy will catch up to me or even pass me. The awfulness of the last part is terrifying."
The Odyssey ends and Athene tells Odysseus to rest from war…. I do not know if He did
It’s trite but true, I think - it’s the journey to the destination, not the destination itself, that brings us fulfillment.
Very nice again :)
In the classic hero myth the hero reluctantly sets out on a quest, has many trials, triumphs and is transformed. It's more about a "shift of consciousness," a psychic shift that transforms them, so if/when they return home they are prophets: Jesus, Buddha, even Neo of "Matrix" fame.
Read Joseph Campbell. George Lucas used Campbell's hero quest model for Luke Skywalker, even consulted Campbell for the film.
But Campbell's hero is not just the Homeric or Tolkien or modern film hero. The psychic shift is psychological, and we can all be a hero in our own lives without laying siege to Troy--or winning a slam.
Winning a slam is a great achievement, but in and of itself it doesn't make one a "hero" in the classic hero myth sense of having some transformative/transcendental shift of consciousness. If Thiem is a hero it's that he did battle. The rest is just keeping score.
Andrea, since you mentioned walking in the woods I recommend Bill Bryson's "A Walk In the Woods." It's so well written that Hollywood couldn't resist making a bad Bromance out of it. But I suggest you read the book. It's elegiac and funny both. You're a good writer; you'll enjoy reading a good writer.
Love the very Chekovian ending! We shall rest!
Great quote by Thiem, i.e grand slam did not change his life. Now I understand why he never really came back after his injury. He had worked sooo hard to achieve his goal , and when he finally did he was disappointed by the reward!
Nice piece again, nice writing Andrea
I like your veering into the profound, so young and yet wise, how rare. BTW, did you mean "metal wench" or "metal wrench". How did the tournament go?
There are only a couple of categories of “retirement” from a sport. It’s a pyramid. For most, to say “I played X in school” is code for saying “…..until I had to grow up.”. It’s not a “real” retirement. At the other end of the pyramid, up at the tip, it’s “we won’t get to see Rafa play for a final again” well, that’s real, Nadal, and Theim, and our correspondent Andrea exist in a world where they were not just “playing” a sport, they were involved with a very real profession few experience - the experience of “just how good can I become”. Of course no particular win changed their life, they are not actually playing just for the wins, they are playing against their own limitations. They are not really just retiring from pro tennis, they are retiring from the journey itself.
Our sweet Lord provides for my needs. I don't need to win. "He maketh me to lie down in green pastures..." Psalm 23.
Striving is what we are programmed to do, we are hunter gatherers first - then warriors, dancers, farmers, artists, capitalists - in some order after that. So striving is a lifelong practice. Winning the US Open is like killing a deer or finding a vine full of grapes, it's a triumph in the short term but it cannot, by itself, sustain you. We know this and we don't. I won something last year that I had been trying to win for twenty years. I didn't expect to ascend to another plane of being but I thought I might feel some sense of achievement. Not really. In life, as you argue brilliantly here, a goal is a beginning rather than an end. When you get to the top of the mountain you might admire the view for a bit, but really what you have reached is the start of a descent.
Excellent article! Indeed, for us, mortal and amateur players it is very hard to understand what Domi said. But we trust your words!
Wonderful writing as always, Andrea! I was sad I couldn’t figure out how to watch the Lux Ladies Masters Tournament here in the states. TC+ didn’t carry it. I’m also sad to see Domi retire, but I understand it. I wish him all the best.
Surprised you didn’t make the connection between always striving for more and climbing a mountain- for no reason other than its there and it’s hard.