Standing ovation for Simone Biles
A quick minute of praise and admiration for this legend.
While I would never revel in the suffering of others, I can’t help but smile inwardly as I admire the courage and strength of Simone Biles in the wake of her decision to withdraw from Olympic competition in order to focus on her mental health. The support she’s getting from contemporaries like Michael Phelps (who has been vocal about the importance of caretaking one’s mental wellness) and former teammate Aly Raisman (who also took an appropriate shot at the US Olympic Committee and USA Gymnastics) has drowned out any criticism from yahoos, trollers, or adults who remain out of touch with what’s truly important. Biles’ move is part of a welcomed trend of high-profile athletes, such as Naomi Osaka, who are simply walking away when the lights are the brightest and they are not feeling at their best.
I write from an informed perspective. From 2004–2009, I led a high school in a high-pressure suburb of Boston (which counts Aly Raisman as an alum). After multiple student hospitalizations and a cluster of teenage suicides, the community eventually woke up to the problem of stress (parent, school, self, etc.) and its impact on adolescent mental health, and it rallied to create a first-rate support network for at-risk young people. I turned this experience into a dissertation at the Lynch School of Education at Boston College. Since then, primarily through teaching mindfulness-based stress reduction, and in my role as a school leader, I’ve done all I can to promote the concept that Audre Lorde perfectly summarized in her quote, “Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.”
It is still taboo to talk openly about and address one’s mental health (something that is relevant to every single one of us), but the tide seems to be turning. I can admire and respect Simone Biles’ athletic prowess, but that admiration turns to veneration and respect turns to reverence when such a degree of courage is on display. She deserves a standing ovation unlike any other she’s earned for this performance.
