'American Beauty'

It’s hard to write about the sort of beauty and inspiration that exists beyond words.

While wonder and breathtaking radiance are available in abundance in our daily lives if we know where to look (art, nature, music), we often rush past its offerings in order to attend to our basic responsibilities.

Presence over pursuits is sage advice, but not a state easily accessed by most of us. Our society orients us toward accomplishment, and our collective energy is often spent on efforts to accumulate and acquire - or to simply exist, and maintain some basic standard of living, that is becoming increasingly difficult for far too many to achieve.

I like to say that sunsets are my religion. I try and make a point to catch as many as I can, but if I am honest with myself, they offer only a temporary balm in a world-weary and frenetic mind. I often find myself enervated and then exasperated, as the cycle repeats itself over and over again.

If we are lucky, we will be blessed to witness moments that transcend our expectations and our reality. We get lifted by an unexpected source that reveals a deeper truth we were yearning to feel.

Those moments when we sense something on a visceral level that reaches into our very souls, and engages us in a recognition of our innate abilities to move beyond our circumstances, can be paradigm shifting.

To reach for something deeper, beyond space and time, that we always knew was there but sometimes struggle to find.

Few among us can truly let go of the results and trust process over outcome. This almost never happens in sport, but when it does it eclipses reality and inspires us in a way that can only be described as pure art.

I was trained by beloved voice and speech teachers when I was a student at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts; Jim and Betty DeMonic, who recently passed away within weeks of each other, in this cold and unforgiving winter. They both left this life much too soon for those of us who cherished them, but their lessons will live on in those generations of students they taught.

Jim once addressed a class of eager theater students by saying, ‘If you take away one lesson from your years in this conservatory let it be this: the most important thing you can do is focus on the right thing at the right moment…if you learn nothing else from me, learn that. It will guide your performances.’

Presence, concentration, letting your life and art unfold on a moment-to-moment basis. Much easier said than done, but a lesson that has stuck with me for decades - since I first heard my now departed friend share such simple and eternal wisdom.

We live in a graceless age. At least if we measure it by the actions of our government. The current POTUS spills racism and bile from his thin lips and stubby little fingers every chance he gets.

Trump breathes invective and disharmony into all he inhabits.

When was the last time you remember an American president not acknowledge our Olympic athletes over the entire two weeks of the Winter Games?

Trump trolled a U.S. snowboarder on the opening day and then went silent - not remarking on the myriad gold medals delivered by Team USA (until Men’s Hockey), many in a remarkable and historic fashion.

Perhaps none more so than Alysa Liu’s, whose performance in the Women’s Free Skate competition delivered us to a realm of achievement and inspiration we rarely witness. We were treated to someone who goes beyond a personal desire for medals and performs for the sheer joy, and freedom of expression, their platform affords them.

Given an opportunity to display her art, she traveled so deeply into the present moment that it became eternal. In skating for herself, Alysa skated for all of us. She wasn’t competing against others so much as she was carving out a space of her own. Performing on her own terms with an exuberance that was infectious.

And what a magnificent performance it was, a sublime expression of joy and enthusiasm that filled the hearts of those watching - transfixing and transcending the games themselves.

I pictured a generation of little girls and boys sitting in front of their television sets and witnessing the magic we all saw, making silent promises to themselves to someday soar (and smile and spin - and above all shine on their own terms, as only the greatest stars can).

Alysa’s shimmering, quirky grace in victory seemed to almost surpass her poetry on the ice. Melting hearts with her sisterly embrace of the Japanese bronze medal winner, Ami Nakai, reminding us of what truly matters - a moment that should be ranked among the greatest of this Olympics.

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Watching someone pleased with their own accomplishments is vicarious fun, watching someone go out of their way to help another enjoy theirs approaches the heroic - because it aligns us with our true nature. There was a selflessness on display that was both righteous and profound.

All of the Olympic athletes deserve kudos, but I may never fully express the debt of gratitude I owe the U.S. Figure Skating Team for the gift they have given me over these last couple of weeks. I watched so many performances that left me in awe and often in tears as well. Champions, all of them.

From the way Danny O’Shea gently lowers his partner, Ellie Kim, to the ice, marrying athletic power with gentlemanly grace while flashing a smile that warms winter - to the grit and perseverance of Amber Glenn. The elegance and effortless sophistication of Isabeau Levito, which felt as fresh and colorful as the first tulip in spring.

The way they all seemed to rise to the occasion while displaying vulnerability was something I needed to see more than I knew. Proud and grateful for all of their efforts.

Alysa Liu’s father came to the United States as a dissident after participating in the Tiananmen Square protests. Had that same uprising against totalitarianism happened today, Trump and ‘America First’ immigration policies surely would have denied him asylum.

DJT would have applauded the crackdown by CCP leadership on the brave protesters with some idiotic comment about how ‘tough’ Communist China’s leadership was in dealing with dissent.

We have heard him heap similar praise on today’s autocrats, including President Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin.

Trump is as anti-American a POTUS as we have ever endured. A treasonous fool in soggy orange skin and an ill-fitting blue Brioni suit. Had we been under his rule in the late 1980s, when he was busy running his money-laundering and sex-trafficking empire, we would have been robbed of the excellence and example Alysa Liu gave to the world on that Olympic ice rink in Milan.

The child of an immigrant shining on the world stage representing the melting pot, that at one point, was a beacon of democracy and transformative hope.

As beautiful and inspirational a performance as I have witnessed in any medium.

America is a place where dreams can come true. We must not let them drag us further into nightmares. There are kids in cages right now that could be the next champions - we are handcuffing our own potential, and trading compassion for cruelty.

The United States has always been a quilt of many colors. Our inability to recognize the beauty inherent in such a tapestry has, and continues to be, our Achilles’ heel. In these perilous times, this could lead to our downfall - if we don’t wake up. Or at the very least, wake up those who have fallen under the spell of the reactionary and regressive MAGA movement.

One man cannot come to define us, especially one as odious and corrupt as Donald Trump.

Neal Katyal is the son of immigrants. His victory in arguing the case before the Supreme Court that led to their 6-3 decision on Friday, reversing Trump’s tariffs, is a remarkable achievement that will hopefully lead to this administration’s undoing. Diversity is our strength. I have no doubt Trump will descend further into madness as a result of the rebuke. SCOTUS broke POTUS was my initial reaction.

I have known DJT long enough to recognize the deep ego wound he was suffering yesterday, as he raged against the judges he himself had appointed and falsely claimed them to be an ‘embarrassment to their families’.

What an awful and totally unsurprising thing for him to say.

We have become numb to his debased temperament and that in and of itself, is tragic. POTUS will be exceedingly dangerous in the coming days, as his desire to lash out may result in attacks on Iran, but one can and must hope for restraint.

This is not a man who should be leading us into war.

We must focus our awareness on the insanity of this moment. As my teacher said - what we choose to focus our attention on may determine our outcomes.

This is why I celebrated the achievements of our Olympic athletes as a respite from the doom and gloom our geopolitical situation, and the avalanche of corruption occurring in this administration.

It is good for both the soul and the soldier to remember what we are fighting for, and what we can become when we work together and rise above our differences.

I will always be a cheerleader for good sportsmanship, our shared humanity and the diversity that is our birthright.

Congrats to Team USA and all the exceptional athletes of the world.

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