I feel like I need to re-read and re-read this again, but so much resonates. Above all, the idea of work as prayer, the idea of honing one’s craft with its endless repetitions in search of something pure that resembles the ritualistic, repetitive nature of prayers, from chants to rosaries. It reminds me of Yuzuru’s practices, the sense of peace that frequently appears on his face as he performs cooldowns….his devotion to practice is often framed as a dogged pursuit of perfection, but maybe perfection isn’t always the right term - maybe it is a pursuit of clarity instead. I can’t help but think of his interviews in (I think) J-Nats 2021, when he spoke about the way skating to his past programs allowed him to find his way home, out of the spiralling doubts and darkness - that, too, feels like a prayer.
The choice of haru yo koi, the program that provides so much healing and catharsis within his last 4 years, feels very aptly positioned then - it indeed represents Yuzuru’s work that is perhaps most unheralded, no glory attached to it, yet like the smallest flowers that bloom in spring, its transformative power to bring hope and to reflect the beauty of being human with all its impermanence is immense.
I feel like I need to re-read and re-read this again, but so much resonates. Above all, the idea of work as prayer, the idea of honing one’s craft with its endless repetitions in search of something pure that resembles the ritualistic, repetitive nature of prayers, from chants to rosaries. It reminds me of Yuzuru’s practices, the sense of peace that frequently appears on his face as he performs cooldowns….his devotion to practice is often framed as a dogged pursuit of perfection, but maybe perfection isn’t always the right term - maybe it is a pursuit of clarity instead. I can’t help but think of his interviews in (I think) J-Nats 2021, when he spoke about the way skating to his past programs allowed him to find his way home, out of the spiralling doubts and darkness - that, too, feels like a prayer.
The choice of haru yo koi, the program that provides so much healing and catharsis within his last 4 years, feels very aptly positioned then - it indeed represents Yuzuru’s work that is perhaps most unheralded, no glory attached to it, yet like the smallest flowers that bloom in spring, its transformative power to bring hope and to reflect the beauty of being human with all its impermanence is immense.
sorry I meant J-Nats 2020 sob
u r full of endless wisdom