Freedom of the Ice
I believe there is no place like an empty sheet of ice. When the one eighth of an inch of steel touches that sacred haven it gives a person a feeling like no other. A person can smoothly glide from one end of the ice to the other. It allows a person, like me, to clear my head of every thought racing through it and concentrate on only what matters: the skating to be done.
You can put that hockey-stick in my hands and it empty’s every nook and cranny and gives me a complete thought of where can I find a puck to hit with this stick. I find a puck and a natural progression to the front of the net happens. A feeling of relief runs over my body from hair to toenails. I sigh deeply and then it’s time once again to pick up that puck and do some more maneuvers. Up and down that sheet of ice, getting fancier and fancier with the stick-work, until I finally miss the net with a shot and I know it’s time to go back to fundamentals.
Up and down the ice I move like a bird that has no boundaries. I move around making random cuts into the ice when it feels right. I know at this point in time I am more free than I have ever been. No one controls what happens on this ice. There are no parents yelling and no teacher’s demands to meet. It’s just me and my trusty stick alone on the ice. It’s like someone hit a pressure release button. A feeling that makes a person say “ahh” in a way that lets everyone around them know that person must have just had a release of all stresses.
Until that buzzer finally sounds telling me I must get off the ice, I am truly free. My stresses of everyday life are gone. Life can stand still and all problems don’t matter in these moments by myself. I allow myself to forget about those around me. My friends anger issues and other problems do not exist. I am one. Open ice has a healing effect on the body that allows the person to say thank you to Mother Nature for creating something so beautiful. You have to give thanks where it is due and know that this haven of wonder is here for you to enjoy.
I believe ice is nothing to be forgotten; it is here for us to enjoy and use for stress relief and aesthetic values.