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On Sharing the Walk

2019-06-04 · story · John · 3:39 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Sports (also: Health) · mode: Personal essay · tags: timely hook

John tells how his unreliable gut, and thoughts on treasuring versus sharing, led him to give a stranger his Steven Gerrard-signed jersey before Liverpool won the Champions League, and argues that sports matter because they remind us that what we share outweighs what we have: you'll never walk alone.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Peak happiness; why John, living with disordered thinking, doesn't trust his gut

  • ★★ John had a great weekend and is probably experiencing peak happiness; his voice is hoarse from four days of screaming. (hedged) — 00:00:01
  • ★★★ John doesn't believe in listening to his gut: living with an illness of disordered thinking, he has had to learn not to trust his intuition because it constantly lies to him. — 00:00:06
  • ★★ As a minor example, John's intuition tells him many times a day that he didn't lock the car door, though he always does. — 00:00:22

00:00:30 — Giving away the Gerrard-signed jersey before the Champions League final; treasuring versus sharing

  • ★★★ On Saturday morning John's gut told him that for Liverpool to win the Champions League he had to give away a prized possession, a jersey signed by former captain Steven Gerrard. — 00:00:30
  • ★★ John says he should admit a jersey can't affect a match thousands of miles away, but he doesn't understand that, only intellectually: he is incurably superstitious, and who is he to say why they won. (playful, hedged) — 00:00:43
  • ★★★ John has been thinking about the verb 'to treasure': valuing something can lead to hoarding it, when what would help the universe most might be to share what you value. (hedged) — 00:01:03
  • ★★ John says the jersey had brought him a lot of joy, and maybe it was time for it to bring someone else joy. (hedged) — 00:01:17
  • ★★★ In New York City for BookCon, John walked into a soccer bar, found a man alone in a Liverpool shirt, about a size L, told him of his premonition and gave him the jersey. — 00:01:22 · New York City
  • ★★ The man, who had a PhD in something science-y, didn't know who John was but was very excited; they chatted and took a picture, and John doesn't remember his name. — 00:01:34
  • ★★ John won't show the man's face without his consent, but asks anyone who knows him to tell John how his day went. — 00:01:46
  • ★ John jokingly credits the win primarily to his giving away the jersey and only secondarily to the players. (joke) — 00:01:52
  • ★★★ John reports that Liverpool won the Champions League final 2-0. — 00:01:57

00:01:59 — Watching the win backstage at BookCon and celebrating in a Liverpool bar

  • ★★ John was backstage at BookCon for the game's last minutes; Kristine Froseth, who plays Alaska in the Hulu Looking for Alaska show, filmed him nervous and excited. — 00:01:59
  • ★★ After the game John and Akilah Hughes went to a Liverpool bar nearby and sang their hearts out while everyone hugged. — 00:02:09
  • ★★★ Hugging a stranger, unusual for him, John noticed the man was heaving sobs and didn't understand why until he found he was crying too, and then he knew. — 00:02:15

00:02:30 — Sports as celebrating and grieving together; You'll Never Walk Alone

  • ★★ John says sports are about winning and losing, heartbreak and joy, and give simple narratives when life only provides complicated ones. — 00:02:30

  • ★★★ John says that more than that, sports are about celebrating, grieving and being together: they remind us that what we have matters less than what we share, and that we are never truly alone. — 00:02:39

    “Sports remind us that what we have is not as important as what we share”

  • ★★★ Recalling the song Liverpool fans sing after every game, John wishes everyone might know as profoundly as he did on Saturday that, football fan or not, you'll never walk alone. — 00:02:54

    “walk on, walk on, with hope in your heart, and you'll never walk alone”

In the description and comments

  • ★★ The description congratulates Liverpool Football Club on winning their sixth European championship that weekend. — video description

Threads in this video

Mentioned

Central: 2019 UEFA Champions League Final · intuition · Liverpool FC · You'll Never Walk Alone

Also: People: Akilah Hughes · Kristine Froseth · Steven Gerrard

Works: Looking for Alaska (miniseries)

Organizations: UEFA Champions League

Concepts: obsessive-compulsive disorder · superstition

Places: New York City

Events: BookCon

Also centred on Liverpool FC: Walking the Red Carpet: Thoughts from Los Angeles · The Best Worst Thing · AFC Wimbledon v. Liverpool: Thoughts from the Greatest Game on Earth · A Weird and Beautiful Story · What to Love and How · i like it

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