Finding a New Happy Place After a Sports Injury
When I was a kid, sports were more than just games to me—they were my passion, my escape, and where I found my happiest moments. I was always eager to try every sport I could, but tennis and soccer quickly stole my heart. There’s something so exhilarating about being part of a team, working together toward a shared goal, and feeling the joy and pride that comes with a hard-earned win. Soccer, in particular, became my safe haven, a place where I could leave behind the stress of school and just immerse myself in the game. The whole world would melt away, any emotions or thoughts coming up were put aside all that mattered was the game.
But then, everything changed during my sophomore year of high school. During a soccer game, another player collided with me, landing on the back of my knee. I’ll never forget that moment—feeling the pain shoot through my leg and knowing, deep down, that something wasn’t right. The fear inside of me and my family was terrifying because my sister was hurt in the same way and that’s how we found out she had cancer. Even though we all knew the injury didn’t cause the cancer and it helped us find her cancer early on, the fear was still there. It turned out that I had torn my meniscus and pulled my hamstring. Even though I finally stopped holding my breath, just like that, my world shifted. The place where I felt most alive and free was suddenly taken away from me.
The injury was serious enough that I needed surgery, especially because my meniscus was oversized and at risk of further tearing. But the thought of surgery terrified me. I had a huge fear of shots, IVs, and the whole hospital experience. Even though I knew the surgery was necessary, my fear was too overwhelming, it took me almost a year to gather the courage to go through with it. I had to dig deep to find the strength to face my fears, and even then, it was a struggle.
The physical pain was tough, but what really hit me hard was the emotional impact of losing soccer. Sports had always been my outlet—a place where I could be myself, let go of my worries, and just enjoy the moment. With that gone, I felt lost. I was heartbroken, and I knew I needed to find something new to fill that void, something that could bring me the same sense of peace and joy that soccer once did.
That’s when I turned to art. I had always loved drawing and taking photos, but they had always been hobbies that I did alongside sports, never my main focus. After my injury, art became my new refuge. I would spend hours behind the lens of a camera, capturing the world around me, letting everything else melt away. I lost myself behind the lens of a camera and loved capturing the world in the way that I saw it. It gave people a look inside my head into what I see and what I focus on. Art gave me a new way to express my feelings—a way to pour out all the emotions I was struggling to put into words. It was a way to escape and feel and be alone with my thouhgts. Developing my film in the dark room was soothing, the world melted away like it did when I was on the court or field. It became my new “happy place,” where I could process everything I was going through and find a sense of calm in the chaos.
Looking back, I realize that my injury, as painful as it was, led me to something beautiful. It taught me how to find resilience in the face of loss and how to adapt when life doesn’t go as planned. It proved to me that I can do hard things. And my fears of shots and IVs and hospitals didn’t go away, I still deal with it, but I was able to fight through the fear and deal with it. It also introduced me to the healing power of art, which eventually led me to discover art therapy. I realized I could have multiple passions in life and multiple loves. Art therapy and my own journey with therapy helped me deal with the loss of sports. It helped me deal with my changing body and not being as active anymore. It allowed me to explore how much sports meant to me and how I can fill that space with other things. Through this journey, I became stronger, more independent, and more in tune with my emotions. And now, as a therapist, I bring these lessons into my work every day.
I understand firsthand how devastating it can be for a young athlete to lose their sport—their passion, their community, their outlet. I know how hard it is to watch your child go through that kind of heartbreak, and I want you to know that you don’t have to navigate this alone. I’m here to support your child through their journey, helping them heal and find new sources of joy and fulfillment. Whether it’s through creative outlets like art or discovering new passions, I’m committed to helping them find their way to a new “happy place,” just as I found mine.
