I know how to roller-skate and had abundant experience of doing that when I was young; while ice-skating is a totally new experience for me. Therefore I was so excited and really looking forward to it.
During the first 20 minutes in the rink, all I could do is to catch the wall and move extremely slowly with great care. Sometimes, I'll nerve myself to move without the help of wall. But I can only insist for several seconds and ran back to the wall. Especially when somebody was skating towards me while I have nothing to depend on, I would be scared to death. And to avoid being knocked down by others, I'll slowly kneeled down and then just lied down on the ice. This is the only way I can think of to keep myself safe at that kind of hopeless situation.
After several rounds of going back and forth from the wall to the lane, my roller-skating experience stored somewhere in my brain was becoming strong enough to conquer my fear. Finally, I can skate! Although my gesture is a little bit wired, I become enjoying the freedom on the ice. Maybe because of human being's inherent desire for speed, I just cannot help to speed up.
We stayed there for around an hour. My feeling is from excitement to fear, and from fear to enjoyment. I think if more time is allowed, it it possible for me to reach the peak experience called "flow". I had the feeling that I was close to that stage because while I was skating, I didn't pay any attention on how my legs move, I was more concerned about my joyful feelings that freedom and speed brought to me.
I am looking forward to the next time :)
Wonderful experience, and shows that play can be something that sometimes causes us challenge and even fear. There was something inside you, however, perhaps when you watched how much fun the others in your group were having, or thought of the beautiful skaters at the Olympics, that made you persist, made you want to conquer your fear and try to learn to 'get further from the wall.' It brings up the question of when play is not always fun, exactly, but something we are doing because we wish to have fun. Hmmm.
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