Flow is not flawless

Olympic fever + vacation reentry

Aug 01, 2024

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Our new episode in your podcast feed is an interview with Olympic diving legend Greg Louganis. He won two gold medals in 1984 and in 1988, when he famously hit his head on the diving board in a qualifying round and still went on to win.

You can listen here.

We talk about how he sees himself more as a performer than a competitor, what training and competing was like for him in 1988 after he’d been diagnosed with HIV and started on AZT, and how he thinks peak performance is different than perfection.

Peak is flow, he told me.

“Flow is not flawless. Flow is just flow. So there’s no judgment, so there’s no perfection. There is none of that.”

Flow…also takes practice. Inspired by this episode, and by my 8-year-old nailing a front flip off the diving board at the pool the other day, I boldly strutted out to the end of the board for my own go. At the last second, I decided to attempt a flip instead of a dive. My rotation speed was not Louganis-like, and my back slapped hard against the surface of the water. But it did feel exhilarating to try!

Vacation reentry

I’m a few days into my return from my summer vacation. We went on a pack trip in Wyoming, meaning my family went up into the mountains on horseback (and muleback) with the help of wranglers and outfitters, who expertly led a mule train with all our stuff up the trail and made sure we didn’t do anything stupid.

It was an incredible adventure, with fly-fishing, creek-exploring, book-reading time by the fire, and sightings of fresh grizzly scat and pikas collecting grass for the upcoming winter.

I’m always helped by time in nature, particularly when it’s far from any cell signal and other people, and on this trip, there was the added dimension of watching my kids experience it all. We traveled in with another family with two kids and had the genius idea to have a “kid tent” while the two sets of parents got their own tents. And the kids actually slept, once the shadow puppet shows were done for the night.

After we were back in town, I played DJ while I drove the other family to the airport. The dad picked this song: “Find Your People” by Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors. I’d never heard it before, and it hit. It’s such a miracle when you find friends that click right into what you both need, and it’s EXTRA miraculous when your kids like each other and everyone’s interested in getting on a horse. Take a listen if you need a nudge to schedule some time with your favorite people soon.

Suffice it to say, I’m still getting a handle on my inbox. The team and I have been listening through your observations about body changes around menopause and your stories about paid caregiving. Many of you have also sent in thoughtful responses to our recent episodes about drug policy and addiction. We’ll share some of those with you in the coming weeks.

Until next week,

Anna