An Ode

I identify a difference between “happiness” and “joy”. I associate “happiness” with a state of satisfaction relating to a specific event or thing; seeing a dog playing or getting a free order of breadsticks. “Joy” denotes something greater; a wider state of mind and being that envelopes you with contentment.

Sometime in the late summer of 2020 I became aware of an emotional void I struggled to define. As August turned to September I remarked to my wife that I felt like I was losing my capacity to feel joy. In the dark days of that year I had still managed to find a wide range of emotions including happiness, but the feeling was incomplete…emotional autopilot.

About a month ago a funny thing happened; the details don't matter. Sufficed to say my state of mind was changing and a weight was lifting. I still felt ups and downs, got frustrated, mad, sad. But recovery was faster, my general outlook sunnier. Last weekend I sat with friends at Stub & Herb’s and then at Huntington Bank Stadium for a closed Gopher football practice. Watching the sun set against the Minneapolis skyline it hit me: for four years I’ve had a stunted capacity for joy, and it’s suddenly back.

I’ve decided not to get swallowed in deep reflection on it and simply accept it. Not everything requires a monk-like meditation, and sometimes the universe gives you a gift. On Saturday we all get such a moment: college football is back.

A lot has happened and a lot is different. NIL and the transfer portal have changed a lot. And yet, nonetheless, there is joy to be found. Time marches on, change is eternal; we have been here before, we will be here again. The ACC Coastal Division is gone, but new Big XII looms to fill the chaos void. PAC-12 After Dark is dead, but even the most shriveled part of my brain squeezes out an endorphin at the thought of an 11 PM start to the 4^th Quarter of Michigan State at Oregon. The Rose Bowl has changed forever, but later this year we will slather coaches in mayonnaise and eat a breakfast toaster mascot.

As for our beloved Gophers, I know next to nothing and I’m fine with that. I hear tell rumors that we are practicing a new concept called “Special Teams”. Our quarterback sings both kinds of music: country AND western. I misheard Donielle “Nuke” Hayes’s name as “Duke Nukem” so that’s his name now as far as I’m concerned. We will finish somewhere between 2-10 and 10-2; it’s going to depend a lot on which team scores more points. Whatever happens, I’ll be there with my wife and son, extended family, and closest friends watching the sun go down over Minneapolis…yelling, joking, hugging, sighing, and laughing.

There is sufficient bad and sufficient good to be found in this season, like in all seasons before. It’s all about where you choose to look. My friends, this season I encourage you to choose joy.

Row the Boat, Ski-U-Mah, Go Gophers