Speed Cubers and the Power of Inclusion

I hope you all are having a good week and enjoying this content that we are able to provide! Lately, mostly due to quarantine, I have started watching a great deal of TV. Since this realization, I have canceled most of my streaming sites but I wanted to share with you an incredible family-friendly documentary that I was encouraged to watch on Netflix called the  “The Speed Cubers”.

What is Speed Cubing?

In case you were unaware, there are people out in the world who can solve Rubik’s cubes in under 6 seconds. These competitors have studied algorithms and practiced for thousands of hours to come together in a global competition to see who can take the prize for the fastest fingers. The documentary “The Speed Cubers” follows two guys who do just this. AB-TC News says it best that Feliks Zemdeg and Max Park are respectively the Tom Brady and Peyton Manning of the Speed Cubers world, but more likable. Feliks was the first man on top in the cubing world. He dominated this sport for roughly 10 years until Max showed up and stole the stage. 

When we acknowledge differences

We turn “I can’t” into “I can”

What Real Inclusion Looks Like

Unlike usual rivalry, Felixs and Max are friends, but there is more to their relationship. Max has autism and his parents discuss the struggles they had with connecting and communicating with their son. Once Max was introduced to a Rubik’s cube, his parents were able to see the passion and skill that Max had for cubing. His parents go on to say that while Max is 17, emotionally, he is about 7 or 8. Cubing was a great benefit to Max’s social skill and motor development. Yes, this film will provide you with insight to the cubing world, but it will give you far more insight into the world of inclusion and acceptance. There won’t be a dry eye in the room after seeing the role of a mentor and hero that Feliks takes on and how their relationship develops.  Feliks doesn’t let Max’s differences define the value of his skill, but is able to look past Max’s autism and see him as an equal competitor who is just as capable in the game of Cubing. 

What We Can All Learn From This

All of this to say that I highly encourage you and your family to watch this together, but also take some time during this season to think about how we can grow and learn together from different aspects of life. Never did I think that I would gain so much from watching this documentary, but I left knowing that there is still an abundance of good in the world, we just have to find it. There are always going to be opportunities that we can learn from if we decide to be intentional in opening our eyes and experiencing growth.