As a senior, I’ve tried this year to attend as many school events as I can while I’m still local. Among these events are sports games, of which there is a steady flow throughout the year, that always guarantees an adrenaline-filled evening. Conveniently, the oldest of my two younger sisters, a freshman, is on the basketball team, and whenever I can spare the time, such as last week, I go to watch and cheer her on.
It’s one of my favorite things to do. She looks completely in her element, darting between defenders like an otter through a kelp forest. Almost as if she isn’t even trying. That, however, isn’t the case at all. She’s playing her heart out: a classic example of sprezzatura if I’d ever seen one.
Sprezzatura is an Italian noun that waltzed its way into English some time ago. It means effortlessness in doing a difficult thing that can only be accomplished by intensive practice, effort, and study. People who exhibit it may appear as though whatever impressive feat they are achieving is no challenge, but their nonchalance is the fruit of challenges galore. It takes an effort to look effortless, and sprezzatura is the result. Most definitions of sprezzatura note it as being considered an art.
What my sister does is art, all right. For her, basketball is a labor of love, and that labor is ceaseless. She always attends standard team practice, but she also spends hours upon hours shooting hoops at the park by our house and messing around on the court with my other sister. On the rare occasions she’s lounging on the couch, she’s usually watching NCAAW basketball on TV or technical skill walkthroughs on Instagram reels. My mother has even established a rule that caps her basketball rambles on our nightly family walks.
When game time rolls around, she’s cool as a cucumber. Not a single complaint about stress or fatigue, no matter how hard she runs or how many times she’s roughed up by defense. Her explanation to me is a Michael Jordan quote she’s adopted as her mantra: “I played hard every day in practice; so playing hard in a game was just a habit.”
Of course, my sister isn’t the only person I know who radiates sprezzatura. It’s all around the campus, especially now as I continue expanding my knowledge and connections in the Westview community. Being in awe of the prowess of those around me has become a constant in my life.
GOLD, who plays even complex melodies as though they’re “Hot Cross Buns”. The artists who craft images that look like they’ll take a breath of life at any moment. Theater kids, programmers, debaters. Rallyists, writers, runners. They’re everywhere, just being casually outstanding every single day. It’s something that I’m happy I don’t have to miss yet: our Wolverine’s sprezzatura.
