Art & Rugby

So, what’s in a name? I’m revisiting the intention to live more poetically, as inspired by a couple different people in recent weeks. Now is as good a time as any to revisit this name and the

meaning behind it, as grief over the loss of a loved one fuels the pursuit of my most intimate dreams, inspired by lessons and gifts he has brought to my life.

When I was a kid, I had a hard time keeping up with my older brothers. I couldn’t shovel snow or rake leaves fast enough, got creamed in football, and trailed behind on the bicycle. Later, after moving off to college, I played rugby in order to achieve that sense of physical duress. I had to bear down and muster wreckless courage and adrenalized athleticism to keep my skin intact through four years of folly with the team.

Still, there was a sensitive side that would come out as I’d discover beauty and grace in different facets of my life. The pastel reflections of a setting sun off the bow wave of a canoe, morning fog settled in low pockets of farmland, formations of geese dipping their wings as they break formation just before alighting on a pond. Sometimes there is beauty in human pursuits. The ribbonesque curves and bends in the line of a fly fisherman, a pattern of arcs troweled into fresh concrete, graceful acrobatics in sports, or the hands of a potter centering and caressing clay into just the right shape.

As I took time to consider the forces and motives behind the actions in my own life, some things I would do out of sheer necessity, while others would be touched with a bit of beauty or engaged in for the joy of it. There was a period where I washed my own clothes by hand, and I’d face the drudgery of scrubbing and wringing socks and tattered cargo shorts. Often

times, I throw some grub in a pot to warm it just enough to get it to my belly so I can get back to whatever toil I am consumed with. I might work hard and fast to keep warm, meet a deadline, finish before dark, or because the concrete is getting hard. Conversely, other things would receive more care and even a touch of flare. I’d slow

my writing and focus more on my penmanship, add red pepper to sweeten and color a sandwich, orient the grain in a piece of wood as it goes into a project to accentuate the curves and textures around a knot, or get into a rhythm as I’d waltz through repetitive motions in the depths of a project.

It seems to me there are two drivers behind everything we do, and they boil down to the classic model of form and function. But it seems to go farther than that. There are dualities everywhere in our physical existence, and in our philosophical and religious dogmas. Male and female, Heaven and Hell, day and night, dog and cat, etc. I was raised under the auspices of Good and Evil, and later had a brush with the balancing forces of the Yin and Yang. The nature, or perhaps it was the explanation, of the latter made that pair a bit obscure to me, so I made up my own duality, one that suits me: Art and Rugby.

The first time I voiced this idea was at a semi formal dinner keynoting a Peace Corps conference in Ecuador, accented by three days or so of heavy drinking. As the caterers brought out successive courses, we were spoiled at one point with sculpted cucumbers filled with fresh pico de gayo. The woman seated across from me, Caroline, voiced what many of us were thinking: “These appetizers are so beautiful, I don’t want to destroy this by eating it”.

At this prompt, I had just enough liquid courage nuanced with a touch of mischief to get on my soap box and declare something of the following:

Caroline, what you have before you is the pinnacle of human Endeavor. It is a creation that is functional in its nutrition, beautiful to behold, structurally sound and ergonomically considerate, and delectable to taste. It has achieved grace and poetry manifested in physical form in a way that is rare in this day and age. It is the product of the perfect blend of Art and Rugby, or put more plainly, form and function.

At this, my friend Brandon spoke up for a few seats down. I had grown to know Brandon a bit over the course of the previous two years, at least enough to be aware of the joy he finds in sex and taking great pictures. He pointed out:

Dave, I can appreciate the dualistic nature of human enterprise. But I’m not sure

Art and Rugby capture the essence just right. KInda seems like there could be an analogy that is more fitting.

With my loquaciousness now kindled, I somehow had the wherewithal to respond:

Well of course there’s a better analogy, Brandon! Art and Rugby is merely a duality that I connect with. It’s different for everyone, reflective of their experiences, passions, and the lens through which they view the world. For you, it may be Masturbation and Photography!

And now Brandon was hooked:

Yes, Yes! And at the same time!

Of course at the same time! It’s the combination and complimentary qualities of each that give rise to grace and the manifestation of poetry in physical form. The perfect balance is the apex of human achievement!

At this, a long silence ensued around the table as about 20 people there, and others within ear shot, sat fixated on me. You could almost hear the wheels of the collective consciousness grinding as people tried to deicide if what they were just privy to was genius or lunacy that had been festering in me over the course of the previous couple of years as I had kept myself largely sequestered in a small village.

Finally, Nurse Sarah broke the silence from a few seats down, removing all doubt as to everyone’s train of thought:

Dave, you might want to visit us more often at the office, you know, just to get a few things checked out…

Sure, she was poking fun, but her smile and twinkle in her eye let on that the beauty and novelty of this whole concept was not lost on her.

So here I am, 16 years later, and something like my third or fourth iteration of an initiative to bring the elements of Art and Rugby to the world. The concept, as I’ve attempted to convey in a few other places on this website and with just about anyone I’m around long enough, is to harmonize beauty and function in everything we do. Also to compliment the Earth and society as we move through our daily toil. For way too long we’ve been doing more harm than good. Through the model of Learning, Creation, Experience, and Sharing, may we all affect a better world to live in, and in so doing, achieve the highest, most noble intention through our Endeavors: INSPIRATION of others!

May our gardens welcome other members of our animal community to our geographical pot-luck.

May the fibers of our clothing feed the soil as they someday return to the Earth.

May our homes provide shelter that, once exhausted, can be burned for heat, composted for gardens, or recycled into newly inspired and improved abodes.

And may we celebrate our discoveries with neighbors and friends to foster sentiments of abundance, community, and inspiration.