forever an optimist

watching the opening ceremonies of the olympics, my heart melts with both joy and sorrow.

there is one team who have brought women with them for the first time (i think the united arab emirates). and soon after, afghanistan enters the stadium, without its only female athlete... who disappeared a month ago from italy, thought to be applying for asylum because of threats against her life for trying to compete.

for the athletes who are representing their small countries, walking in the opening ceremonies is there biggest moment. because of training, coaching and financial disparities, they may not make it past the first round. they exhibit courage and pride walking across the stadium, sometimes alone.

this opening ceremony is exceptionally artful. a giant painting has been created throughout the event, and each athlete who processes in contributes to it. they walk across a giant stamp pad, creating sweeping swaths of color as trod across the artwork.

BRILLIANT!

i know it isn't all bright and shiny. but in an effort to look for the good in the world, this is one of the few moments where many americans pause and together look outside our borders, cheering for folks from countries we can't find, learning about countries we may have never heard of and finding common ground. and yes, we might hope our team wins in the end, but we are looking outward instead of inward.