A search for joys. Understanding Maria Sharapova

MANILA & TOKYO – 4 October 2009: I've been searching for a few years for just a few words to describe or state what I have been trying to do through my writings, as you can see in my 20 blogs, as you can see in my 2 books published in India by ICRISAT, as you can see in my 200 long essays published in the American Chronicle – and today I found the words to tell the world, Maria Sharapova included.

Finally, I have the phrase, a maxim, a formula that describes my way of writing and, at the same time, my kind of writing, and it is this, that it is a search for joys – exactly like that, so please mind it like it reads, please take it like it looks. I shall now turn it into a mantra, as if it were a magic spell, a phrase with mystical potentialities (American Heritage Dictionary). And why not?

Almost exactly 2 years ago, I called my writing the Franciscan essay (see 'My Franciscan Essay,' 27 October 2007, americanchronicle.com); now then, a proper Franciscan essay is a search for joys – multiplied. I insist; if not multiplied, it's a selfish search. Now that I have defined it myself in plain words why I write, why I blog, why I publish, now it's much easier for me to summon my muse, to search for the unknown, to discover the undiscovered, to work with a chaotic pile of materials and rambling thoughts, to intuit, to gain insight, and so to write. And yes, now it's easier to understand my Tennis Princess.

I remember, 'Simplify, simplify!' was the mantra of Henry David Thoreau, who turns out to be the Prince of Joy as I see him today, from the words of Ann Woodlief (vcu.edu): 'He found greater joy in his daily life than most people ever would.' Now I understand where civil disobedience is coming from – it's an expression of the belief that government cannot and should not stop the search for joys.

As I write this, I keep listening again and again to 'Because You Love Me,' last year's celebrated diva-uncelebrated diva duet at Madison Square Garden in Celine Dion's own show. Celine meets Charice, or is it the other way around, and Celine allows Charice's star to shine in Celine's own concert so much so that it is truly a search for joys, hers and hers.

About this, I received an email from JAQ who received it from JK who had forwarded 'Celine Dion with Charisse Pempengco 16 Years Old Girl' with the note that 'If you haven't seen this ... make sure and watch!!! Bring out your tissues before watching this video – Delightful and very moving! This is a MUST SEE.' The link given was:
http://piperoo.multiply.com/video/item/23/Charisse_Pempengco_duet_with_Celin

From me, here is another link in case the first one doesn't work out well; this is high-quality video annotated by Oprah herself:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XknK8oedyQs

The little girl is from Cabuyao, Laguna south of Manila; the name's Charice, not Charisse, but never mind; the point is to find joy in what you do and in what others do for you – or for somebody else. Oprah herself found joy in Charice, and now she has 'adopted' and advises her on her singing career; American kingmaker Oprah got Filipino jaw-dropping diva Charice under the tutelage of the legendary Canadian composer David Foster. Now they're finding joys in a little girl's beautiful voice. Not pretty and not well-to-do, Charice had been in a search for the joys of being an international star and bringing honor to her family, not the least her country, first of all to make people happy with her singing. (You might like to read what I have so far written in my blog dedicated to her, here: 'Pinoy Cinderella.')

Now therefore, not un-Thoreau-like, if unintended, what I live for and write about has been and continues to be a search for joys. If you want more details, you can see it in terms of its sound-alike: a search for juice, to see joys in juice. As in, joy in unrestricted insights, Catholicism, expertise – that is, ever searching for happiness in faith and science. As in, joy in unprogrammed intuition, creativity, experience – that is, always seeking delight in mind and body. As in, joy in unqualified information, communication, essence – that is, continuously looking for pleasure as much in parts as in wholes.

So now, maybe after this you can visit my other blogs and read any of my essays and hopefully see more than you read. Enjoy! (Try this blog: i to i, FrankAHilario.)

I always try to write in such a way that it is 'an invitation to understanding.' I say that not for you to understand me but for you to understand life in general – and that life is special. I'm here to help you think more ingeniously, imaginatively, innovatively as much as I can – to help you find joy in what happens, and even in what doesn't.

So, let's talk about one of my heroes, Maria Sharapova, who had risen to be #1 in women's tennis. She was awesome. She was special.

Then she started losing, and losing, and losing. Then she had an 'arthroscopic surgery to repair a rotator cuff in her right shoulder' and had to retire for 10 months. That was a long hurt.

So, what had Maria Sharapova been doing aside from losing?

Searching for joys. Maria has been changing her game (Rick Eymer, 28 July 2009, womensprotennistour.suite101.com), like Tiger Woods had changed his swing. Last year, she lost in the 2nd round at Wimbledon. Humiliating. This year, she lost in the 2nd round at Wimbledon. Very humiliating. She was once the Wimbledon Champion in 2004, at 17 years of age. Very exhilarating.

Lose some, win some. She won against Ai Sugiyama in July this year, but she described her game as still 'patchy.' She said:

I thought I played solid. I was playing against a good opponent who forces you to play a lot of balls. I kept giving myself a chance and I'm thankful to get through.

She got through. You celebrate escapes like that.

She doesn't think her match toughness is where it needs to be,' Rick writes, 'and she's still learning to serve differently. These things take time, especially with such a strong-willed player like Sharapova.' You need a strong will in a search for joys in being a champion again.

Today she won the title in Tokyo, the Pan Pacific Open, after Jelena Jankovic retired during the final match because of an arm injury. It happens to the best.

That is Maria's first win in 18 months (timesonline.co.uk). She was leading 5-2 when Jelena called for a medical timeout, and then called it quits. Maria said afterwards:

I've put in so much work. It's funny to win trophies after thinking I might never be able to hit again.

You have to put in so much work for something you so much love. Even so, sometimes you may think you better quit. Don't.

Jelena won the opening 2 games but Maria got her wind and won the next 5 games, after which the Serbian quit on the Russian, who afterwards said (edition.cnn.com):

It was a tough start today. Jelena started off so strong. It was my second final of the year and I was a bit nervous. But I played well enough this week to know I could give her a good match. I just wanted to keep fighting out there and, unfortunately, Jelena had to stop.

You have to savor the winning, not the least the competing itself. Maria said (telegraph.co.uk):

It's never easy to win a match like this. Obviously, it's very important for Jelena to be healthy and we want to compete at our 100 percent.

To the best, only 100% is good enough. In the Tokyo Open, World #1 Dinara Safina lost in the first round, and so did once #1 Venus Williams. Jelena herself had been #1. 100% and sometimes you lose. It happens to the best.

This was Maria's 20th overall title; 4 of those titles she had won also in Tokyo.

Maria had lost the WTA Toronto final earlier this year (skysports.com). In Tokyo, after Jelena quit in the first match, Maria said, 'I wish her a speedy recovery, and hopefully we can play in the final here next year.' Maria knows how it is to lose because of injury, not because you are a lousy player.

Winning, Maria 'has proved that she could return to her best' (Nigel Brown, 03 October, sport.co.uk). There's joy in thoughts like that. Maria said afterwards:

I want to thank all of the fans for coming out here and supporting me. To go from not knowing whether you'll ever play the sport again to holding a trophy, it's an unbelievable feeling. You realize what a gift it is to hit a tennis ball. I've put in so much work, and this is just exciting.

Joy in the gift.

It's great to have that adrenalin (rush) again,' Maria said (Reuters, 03 October, nz.sports). 'It's funny to win trophies again after thinking I might never be able to hit a tennis ball again. But I'm back and I'm hungry. I can be better than before and win more grand slams.'

That's the spirit! Maria won her very 1st tournament as a professional at the Japan Open in 2003; she won this Open in 2005, when she defeated Lindsay Davenport (maria-sharapova.org).

Joy can come from other places.

Recently, Maria unveiled a Bluetooth-enabled dress, on which the iridescent scales that run on one side of the dress move and light up when your Sony Ericsson's phone rings (Laura June, 18 June 2009, engadget.com). It's a prototype. 'Be not the first by whom the new are tried / Nor yet the last to lay the old aside' – poet and essayist Alexander Pope said. But where is the joy in always seeking to be second overall, or second to the last?

The Maria Sharapova Foundation along with the United Nations Development Program has for freshmen scholarships at $3,500 each at the Belarusian State University for the 2009-2010 school year, the recipients coming from areas affected by the Chernobyl nuclear accident (24 June 2009, mariasharapovaonline.com). Maria knows she must help others in their own search for joys.

05 October 2009 – It strikes me today as I revise this essay that I also have found a thought fairy, a formula for summoning creativity anytime, anyplace with anyone on any subject: Whatever it is, simply turn it into a search for joys. Meanwhile, in Manila, in between 2 devastating typhoons in 2 weeks, it is good that life goes on; it is better that life becomes a search for joys.