Vancouver – 4 years later…

We are coming up on another winter Olympics.  It seems like yesterday that I was here in Vancouver when the games were on.  It was magical. The world had come to Canada and we were enjoying the hosting role very much.  There was a lot of work and organization that went into those games and so many volunteers meant an added level of commitment.  Any one who was Canadian and here in the city was an ambassador and a fan.  The streets were alive and we were all vibrating at the same frequency it seemed.

What will Sochi be like for us?  Right now for me it is anticlimactic.  The proximity to the action, the opportunity to perhaps run into the athletes, to catch a glimpse of them in person, all the excitement that went with that presence is now half a world away.

I am happy for the Russians who will participate in the hosting experience this year.  I am sure it will be exhilarating for them as it was for us.  I wish our Canadian team the very best.  Maybe the absence of the home crowd will allow them to concentrate .  Maybe because they have experienced it first hand they will be more successful at imagining, visualizing the home crowd reaction to podium medals.  I hope they understand the support that is here for them in a new way.

I wish them well.  I will be glued to the TV coverage no matter the time of day.  I will be part of the world that is watching from afar and my heart will be there with them as they compete.  It is not the same but the experience of last time has strengthened a connection that will last for me and for many others who were here in Vancouver for the GAMES, our games.

Experience brings us together in shared history.  That is true not only in major world events but in our every day lives.  Make your own shard memories today.