Today is Super Bowl Sunday. It’s an odd day for those of us not into sports. But here is a thought for my fellow non-sports people – maybe the Super Bowl is about connectedness.
I used to be completely baffled by the popularity of football and especially Super Bowl Sunday. (Sorry to all my sports friends and relatives who find it equaling mystifying that I just don’t care!) Football has always seemed unnecessarily violent and a mimicking of brutal arena sports of ancient cultures. It also seems like a waste of time.
Is connectedness the heart of Super Bowl Sunday?
However, as incomprehensible as it still seems to me, I am now able to step back a little and recognize there are elements of Super Bowl Sunday that are about the deeply human need to connect with others. From identifying with a certain team to coming together to watch in groups, football and Super Bowl Sunday meets our needs for connectedness. Super Bowl becomes a time to be with friends and family, connect, laugh together, cry together (possibly) and eat good food.
A Mid-Winter Celebration
Interestingly, Super Bowl also takes place at mid-winter. It still might be bitterly cold, but the days are getting longer and the sun is higher in the sky. We can visualize spring at the end of the tunnel. So that’s a time to celebrate. Ancient cultures have recognized this midpoint between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. The Celtic festival of Imbolc (1) took place just a few days ago on February 2nd. It has traditionally been a day to come together to celebrate the lengthening of days. And although this seems a much better event to celebrate, perhaps they are all deeply rooted in our human need to connect with others.
So in honor of Super Bowl Sunday, the mindfulness focus word for the week is connectedness. As we bring our intentional focus to the idea of connectedness we can pay attention to how we connect with others and why.
For more information on weekly mindfulness focus words, click here.
Footnotes
