This blog is for a certain kind of hero: the post-athlete. Specifically, those of us who were high-level athletes at a young age and are now dealing with the aftermath of growing up in environments that pushed us to our breaking point again and again, where compassion was scarce, and showing emotion was out of the question.

"We emerged feeling both tough as nails and fragile as glass."

While I don't consider myself a hero, that pain has sent me on a hero's journey.

We all are called to make a hero's journey at some point in our lives, often repeatedly. As you can see in the below figure, the journey is not linear - there are many adventures to be had, failures to face, mentors and helpers to meet, and skills to develop. And thankfully, revelations and transformations are part of the journey!

The day came some 14 years ago at almost 17 years of age (wow, that was almost half my lifetime ago?!) when I could no longer force myself to go to a gymnastics practice - it was physically and mentally impossible. After shaping my identity for nearly a decade, my involvement with the sport was over. Or so I thought. For better or for worse, it had shaped me and will always be with me. While the long hours of training chiseled my body into athletic form, it chipped away at my willingness to trust others and left me hypervigilant and scanning the world for danger. As my body leapt and tumbled to new heights, my mental health sank to deep lows.

This blog exists to address the very real imprint that our respective sports left on our inner worlds and to spark conversations between us curious, gritty post-athletes who are determined to manage our anxiety, cultivate meaning and connection in our lives, and develop our resilience, enabling us to pursue new goals that we set on our own terms.

Thank you for joining me on this journey!