Are you a Badass?

I am not. At least I don't consider myself one. But I know a few, and am impressed by them. Badass is a quality of fearlessness, and I'm too tentative and self-questioning to qualify.

It's a characteristic that displays itself dramatically in the BFF's sons, though in different activities -- it's not automatic in their interests across the board. Her oldest is an an amazingly gifted athlete, and naturally, deeply competitive. I don't see it so much in his baseball games -- aside from his hating to lose, and expecting a perfect performance from himself. But in basketball, it's naked and raw. He will throw up shots that make me cringe, and they fall in. He is fast and everywhere -- which allows him to steal the ball at will, to cut to the inside and put up a layup while everyone else is in a scrum looking for the ball. And he's his free throws -- are . consistently. solid. His play doesn't falter, it's just that the law of averages and the human inability to produce a perfect performance on every occasion means all his shots can't connect. But he expects them to -- it's more than just wanting them to. And he leaves it all on the court. The down side of this passion is his belief that he can carry the team when they aren't matching his performance (i.e., falling behind.) Going to one of his games (and he's only 10) is intense because to the crowd, he's a known quantity, the go-to player. When I'm in the stands, I'm always surprised that I'm not the only one rooting on his performance. It's the other parents that are shouting encouragement to him, that are praising his play. At 10!! I'm a little worried about what it will be like when he's in high school.

His younger brother takes daredevil to a wholly different level. He spends hours doing flips and all other gymnastic moves -- just for fun. The same with skateboarding -- he flies up and down the hills at the skateboard park. And his batizado last weekend, (the annual capoeira exhibition where you receive a new belt) had a week's lead up that included a visit to a circus arts gym. While his lesson was on the trampoline, and he loved it, he really wanted to be in a harness working with the trapeze performers. Swinging across and catching someone else's hands while doing a flip in the middle!! That's crazy badass. It's the same with his dancing -- he's able, at 8, to control and move his body in imitation of the choreographed routines you see in movies, a la Stomp the Yard, and music videos. (Replete with the shaking and gyrations that cause us all some exasperation.)

Observing how natural this is in two so young leads me to believe this intensity is self-generated. It's awe-inspiring to me that some people come into the world with that programmed into their DNA, while others have to work ceaselessly to acquire that quality, which is so integral to being an exceptional athlete. When I played tennis obsessively (lo, those many decades ago), I always found it easier to hit for hours in pursuit of consistently perfect shots than to play matches. I liked competing, but sometimes faltered in the clutch because I lacked the killer instinct, the ability to hit out under pressure, to seek out and exploit any weakness in my opponent's game.

I also know a badass knitter -- and while you might assume that's a strange combo, there are more of them out there than you'd imagine. Helen, the one I know, hasn't been knitting for more than a few years but she'll try anything. Any idea, working without a pattern, pushing the limitations of a yarn. She's basically unafraid to play with, and even break, the charter rules of knitting. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't, but she knits on undaunted. She is prodigious -- one of those folks whose projects go out into the wider world, rather than stacking up in her drawers. (Which means she knits for everybody, and you'll see her product on neighbors, friends, her daughters.)

I am a cautious knitter -- sticking to the pattern, the recommended yarn, the tried and true methods. And my projects are mainly for me, and stay at home. (Which means an awful lot of them are hanging out in plastic bags, in varied states of completion.)

All of which puts me in mind of Barack Obama. Up until now, he's been cool and unflappable -- another personality trait I think is hard-wired, though it too can be acquired. I think we've reached the stage where he has to go badass to win. It's been a perpetual dog fight and he's stayed above the fray, but now I think he's got to assert he's the only person for the job, and in a forceful way. I'm not sure what the best forceful tactic would be -- it definitely shouldn't be returning ad hominem attacks of Hillary. But somehow he's got to translate what I (and others) find effective answers to the "inexperienced" argument (his work as a community organizer who was then elected to the state legislature to represent those he'd organized for years is pretty concrete experience) in an aggressive way. And he is going to have to be more pointed in pointing out Hillary's flaws and relatively short stint as an elected representative. Can he do it? I hope so. Because I don't think I could live through the months long rehash of Whitewater, Monica, Bill's impeachment and that "vast right-wing conspiracy" comment the Republicans are going to run 24/7 if she's the Democratic candidate.