Alysa Liu feels like a cultural reset 𖤓｡⋆
This is how we learn to live in our light
It’s crazy how letting joy guide you instead of fear can change every area of your life. Joy is a guiding force, and fear tightens the leash.
Like everyone else in America, I’ve been inspired by Alysa Liu. An Olympic and World Champion figure skater, she has become a cultural embodiment that reminds us: excellence does not have to be fueled by fear, but anchored in joy. She is a great example of what happens when you let joy be your internal compass, guiding how you move, speak, create, respond, and even compete.
When fear leads, everything tightens and contracts within and outside us. Your decisions come from a defensive position, and your identity becomes performative. You spend your energy on managing perception. But when JOY leads, something relaxes and strengthens at the same time. There is clarity without the pressures of the rigidity of being “correct”. Alysa Liu is an example of light-led living.
“I can resist the pressure to perform, and prioritize joy, playfulness and creativity” — Alysa Liu
The word joy comes from the Old French joie, which came from Latin gaudia, meaning rejoicing, delight, gladness, pleasure.
The deeper Latin root is the verb gaudēre, meaning to rejoice, to be glad, to take pleasure in.
What’s interesting is that joy is not originally about fleeting happiness, which many of us seem to understand it to be. The roots of the word joy carry a sense of inward gladness. It’s more settled and interior.
Joy is a way of flowing through effort. It is not something you earn after proving yourself. It is something you allow when you stop performing.
Watching Alysa Liu all over my feed recently, I began to remember this inside myself, as millions of people online are, watching and commenting things like “Everything she has done is beyond perfect for the world to see true resilience and authenticity,” and “Opening new doors for athletes and humanity.” It’s a deep recognition that I see as a beam of hope in our twisted world.
It’s important to remember that people like Alysa are idolized not because they are rare unicorns, but because they reflect something true in each one of us who admire them. The masses are simply projecting their own potential for joy, confidence, and radiant expression. And it’s exciting. The collective projection reveals what we long to inhabit in our society today: confidence, vitality, sincerity, and light.
For her, joy expresses itself through figure skating. For you, it may look entirely different. It might show up in how you build a business, host a gathering, solve a problem, design a space, parent a child, or how you move through your day. Joy does not require a stage or an ice rink.
Joy is a state of being in which your internal energy is full and teeming with light. Because it’s so full and active, it naturally flows outward, reaching and touching those around you who witness its shimmering beauty.
Who are you when you are living in joy? Close your eyes and remember. Leave a comment.
Writing it down helps solidify this image for yourself and reminds others of their own state of joy.
Part of what makes Alysa Liu’s story so compelling is what she chose to do at the height of her success. After becoming one of the youngest champions in U.S. figure skating history, she stepped away from the sport at sixteen to live a more ordinary life. At an age when most athletes are tightening their grip, she loosened hers.
When she eventually returned to the rink, it was not from pressure or unfinished business, but from desire. She told her coach she wanted to compete again, but this time on different terms. She would skate to music she actually loved, not the depressing piano pieces so often assigned. No one would starve her. No one would dictate what she was allowed to eat.
After a period of adversity, self-healing, or therapy, there comes a time when you feel ready to move on. The psyche yearns to express itself, not contain itself in introspection. It’s important to continue pouring into things that make you feel vital and alive. What Alysa Liu is exemplifying is the perfect representation of Light Work.
Light work is the disciplined cultivation of your strengths and energy source (your light). It is learning how to stabilize and ground your energy so that external chaos does not dictate your internal state. It is building a self-concept that’s not rooted in egoic inflation, but in grounded authenticity.
That is what we can clearly recognize in Alysa. She is not detached in the cold sense but in a lack of entanglement with the need to prove. In a recent CBS interview, when asked what her secret weapon was to block all the noise out, she responded:
“I protect my peace, really.”
“I hang out with my family and friends, they keep me grounded.”
“I say no, a lot.”
When you are living in your light and doing the light work, these are the outcomes:
You’re comfortable with who you are.
You respond genuinely, and people sense it.
You prioritize protecting your peace and energy.
You make others feel grounded and naturally inspire those around you.
You are determined to show up fully and make a difference.
Alysa, thank you for working your light, your magic. Thank you for reminding us that even in today’s confusing world, we can choose to show up with courage, determination, and authenticity.
If any of this resonates with you, consider who you are when you follow your joy.
Close your eyes and imagine that version of yourself in detail. How do you move? How do you speak? Where in your body do you feel it? Share with me what that looks like in the comments :)
That still lives inside of you, and you can tap into it at any time. Start doing Light Work practices to cultivate it in your life and allow joy to become the axis around which your life turns.
.𖥔 ݁With joy.𖥔 ݁
Keila Shaheen