On being ... a buzz in the air

By Ingrid Sapona 

I’m not much of a fan of professional sports. In college I loved going to football games and in high school I dreamt of being a hockey broadcaster. But for the past 30+ years, I’ve been rather down on professional sports. I’m bothered by the staggering sums the players are paid; the sky-high cost of tickets and branded paraphernalia; and the amount of taxpayer dollars spent on sports arenas and the like. 

But, having spent most of my life in cities (Buffalo and Toronto) with multiple professional sports teams, I’ve come to accept the ubiquity of conversations about the home team(s). Indeed, “How about those (fill in the team name)?” is actually a pretty handy conversation starter because it works whether the team is winning or losing!

Anyway — as you’ve probably guessed, this is top-of-mind this week because the Toronto Blue Jays are in the World Series. Though true baseball fans probably paid attention during the entire (162 game!!) season, most of the rest of us began paying attention during the playoffs. Indeed, when your town’s team is in the playoffs, there’s a kind of civic duty to care — if not for the team, then for all those who do care about them.

That said, I was caught off guard by the incredible buzz in the air here since the Jays made it into in the World Series. And by “here” I don’t just mean Toronto. As the only MLB team in Canada, the Jays are the nation’s team.

I’m amazed at how many human interest stories the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Company) has found to report on related to the Jays. For example, the other day there was a piece about the guys who wrote the “OK Blue Jays” theme song. In 1982 the owner of the team wanted a song and he hired a couple of commercial jingle writers. The owner told the writers that he didn’t want to promise too much (the Club was only five years old at that point) and he told the writers they should just say they’re “OK”. Who’d have guessed?

The CBC also did a piece on what being a sports fan does to your heart rate during a game. The cardiologist featured in the piece called it “fanxiety”, the increase in heart rate, breathing, and blood pressure of fans who are emotionally invested in the outcome of the play. It all has to do with the increase in cortisol and adrenaline pumping through their bodies. The stress on the body is, apparently, similar to doing a strenuous or moderate workout. I guess that sort of explains the results of an informal poll I’ve taken of acquaintances this past week. I can’t tell you how many people admitted to me that they just can’t take the stress of watching the game. Instead, they find it best to just flip to the game every now and then to catch the score. (And that’s not just for games that take 18 innings!)

The good news is that for most fans, the changes to one’s heart rate and blood pressure won’t make a clinical difference. And, the cardiologist pointed out some benefits of cheering on a team that I’d not thought of: in addition to a spike in dopamine, a team win can bring you closer to your friends who also share the excitement.

Even so, I do wish folks would keep their enthusiasm somewhat in check. Yes, I remember the excitement when the Jays won back-to-back World Series in the early 1990s. But, I also remember the disappointment of Bills fans as they cheered their team through four Super Bowl losses (in a row) in the early 1990s. That said, I guess a true fan is better than me at enjoying the moment and better at taking comfort in the notion that there’s always next year.

With the Series down to a best of three series (at the time of writing this) and feeling stoked on others’ excitement, I realize it’s time to hop on the bandwagon. Besides, it’s nice to have something to rally around and cheer about these days. So:  Let’s go Blue Jays!

©️ 2025 Ingrid Sapona

On being ... mission driven

By Ingrid Sapona

A couple years ago there was a piece on CBS Sunday Morning about owls and the Global Owl Project. The story highlighted the work different folks are doing to preserve owl habitats and talked about the significance different cultures have historically placed on the enigmatic species.   

The managing director of the Global Owl Project, David H. Johnson, apparently got interested in owls when an eastern screech owl landed on his tent. He was 11-years-old at the time. As Johnson sees it, he didn’t pick owls, they picked him.

While all the information about owls was interesting, it was something Johnson said about life that really stuck with me. He said,“There are two important days in your life: the day you’re born and the day you find out why. I’m here to help owls and the conservation of the planet and people I care about.” I was so struck by what Johnson said, I jotted it down because I knew it would be something I’d want to return to in an On being…

When I first heard Johnson’s comment, I admit to being jealous about the clarity he feels about his purpose on earth. Because the CBS piece wasn’t about Johnson’s life journey, it didn’t talk about how straight a path his life took from that owl landing on his tent to his work with the Global Owl Project. Curious, I looked him up. Based on what I found on Research Gate, it seems he’s been working on owl-related stuff since at least 1991. Looking at the list of research he’s been involved with, there’s no denying that he has been on that mission for most of his life.

The day I was born I’m sure about… (At least that’s what a birth certificate is for.) But, “the day you find out why” is a whole other matter. There have been moments in my life when I’ve felt like I helped with something or did something that mattered a bit. But those times are rather fleeting and I’d be hard pressed to provide even one example. 

The question of what my purpose on earth is hasn’t preoccupied me, but I have thought about it from time-to-time. In particular, I’ve wondered whether life is more fulfilling if you find a mission or specific purpose. Given that I’ve not figured out the “why I was born” thing, I guess I’m hoping that fulfillment doesn’t depend on figuring it out. Or maybe the key is in realizing that a meaningful mission doesn’t necessarily involve making the planet better (as Johnson’s does). 

In the two years since CBS aired that piece, I’ve made some personal progress in that I’m no longer jealous of people who have great clarity about their reason for being. I think it’s wonderful if you figure it out, but if you don’t, that doesn’t mean your life is one of quiet desperation, as Thoreau posited. Indeed, despite no mission, I feel content and fulfilled. I’m satisfied I’ve made the most of opportunities that have come my way (like being able to share my thoughts through On being…), that I help others as I’m able to, and that I do my best not to do harm to the planet. Though I may yet have an “owl on my tent” moment of clarity of purpose, I am fine if I don’t.

What about you? Do you feel your life has been mission-driven? If so, how and when did you figure it out? Did some owl-like omen happen in your life to guide your purpose? Or do you feel a mission isn’t necessary to give life meaning? 

©️2025 Ingrid Sapona