weekend report 007: dreamers vs. doers
lessons from F1 (2025) and wellness tips
Hi friend,
You ever watch a movie and feel like anything is possible? Recently, I re-watched F1 and that’s exactly what it felt like. It gave me that post-movie theater motivational feeling right at home.
If you haven’t watched it yet, heads up: there might be spoilers in this report. But it’s all in good nature, because this week’s scrapbook page is less about a real sports story and more about sports cinema.
We see a real theme of the connection of sports to life through so many movies: Rocky and Creed, Real Steel, Southpaw, 42, Remember the Titans (to name a few). It’s always been synonymous. And sports cinema is often times where that connection hits hardest because it’s open and accessible to anyone wanting to enjoy a movie.
In F1 specifically, Sonny Hayes didn’t just love racing. He lived it. Breathed it.
He’s kind of character who reminds you what it looks like when someone is completely consumed by their craft. Racing wasn’t a job for him and i’d argue to even say it wasn’t even a passion. It was who he was. Every decision, every sacrifice and every moment came back to the track.
In 1993, a near-fatal crash at the Spanish Grand Prix ended his professional F1 career. It left Sonny with a neck fracture, a mid-back fracture and a doctor’s report that said racing again could cause paralysis, vision loss, or death.
It should have been the end of the story and for valid reason, most people would’ve walked away.
But he didn’t stop racing.
For 30 years, Sonny became a racer-for-hire. NASCAR Cup Series. Xfinity Series. 24 Hours of Le Mans. 24 Hours of Daytona, where he won the GTD class right before his return to F1. And when the F1 opportunity came, he actually wasn’t the team’s first choice. Or second. Or third. Or fourth…
People thought he was a has-been. It had been so long since he’d raced F1 that many doubted his ability, especially because his racing style was more spontaneous and untraditional. But he kept racing because racing was the only place he felt at peace.
Nonetheless, he was irreplaceable in the sport not because he was always the fastest (though he was fast), but because he understood racing at a level most people never reach. He saw lines others didn’t see and took risks others wouldn’t take. He pushed when everyone else would’ve pulled back. Racing was an art form to him.
And the movie doesn’t shy away from showing what that costs. The crashes and the comebacks. The moments when his body couldn’t keep up with what his mind demanded. The marriages that didn’t last. The relationships that fell apart because racing always came first.
I doubt this was because he didn’t care about the people in his life, but because he cared about racing more. And the film doesn’t romanticize that. It shows the toll. When you’re that obsessed with one thing, other areas of your life suffer.
Watching someone love something that much really strikes a chord. It makes you ask yourself: what do I love like that? What am I willing to go all in for?
Because honestly, I don’t think most of us live and breathe our dreams the way Sonny lived and breathed racing (and we’re not exactly supposed to). But we do play it safe. We keep one foot out the door just in case it doesn’t work out.
And the reality is, this is just cinema. Movies show us extremes. It’s not the best to neglect our relationships, our health or everything else in our life to chase one thing. Real life needs balance in ways cinema doesn’t.
But here’s what I do notice: We’re not in danger of loving our dreams too much. We’re actually in danger of loving them too little and letting fear talk us out of going all in.
Sports cinema shows us what happens when you commit fully and when you make yourself irreplaceable not because you’re perfect, but because no one else has the same unique angle as you do.
So the question is, how far will you take your dreams?
Will you just love them? Or will you live them and make them so much a part of who you are that quitting isn’t the first option. Or the second. Or the third. Or the fourth?
Lately my articles have had a theme: God’s timing, choosing your own path, honoring your own tempo.
All the same message, honestly. But what kind of friend would I be if I didn’t remind you of the different ways that looks?
Sonny didn’t ask if racing was worth it. He just raced. And maybe that’s just another version of the lesson.
The people who go to the moon and back for their dreams don’t spend time wondering if they should. They just go.
wellness tip
find (or make time for) your flow state activity- this is the thing where time disappears and you’re locked into a hobby you love. sometimes it’s something we loved as kids, that we need to re-visit as adults.
out my cart
Nami Matcha Starter Kit - finally going to explore the endless matcha recipes i have saved on my phone
No Particular Order, the everything card - so cute. i received a card like this for my birthday last year and thought it was a playful, fill in the blank letter for gift-giving.