Page 101 - THE ENDLESS WAVE | Skateboarding, Death & Spirituality

THE ENDLESS WAVE | PART TWO
instances, some companies and brands die a death of their own and this drives the people involved through their own form of rebirth into different directions of interest.
When you are skateboarding, there is a chance that injuries may have the po- tential to push you into this transition where a part of you may die. Overcom- ing your fears is a part of this cycle of life, death and rebirth. What can you change so that you can handle this and adapt to it? Do you overcome your fears or do you let them get to you? Are there alternatives to what you’re look- ing at doing on your skateboard?
In order to get closer to landing your trick, can you change the angle you ap- proach, your speed, feet placement or weight distribution? Know that the very essence of trying and toying with the possibilities of your imagination are a form of giving life to your ideas. All creation starts on a mental level first be- fore it can exist in the physical reality. For example, if you’ve given life to an idea of a trick at a spot, you can either continue to nurture it or your idea can die and be reborn in the form of perhaps a different trick or finding a different spot for it.
It’s incredible how much creativity exists within skateboarding itself, for this is what will keep this activity, culture and lifestyle thriving for many years to come.
In my own journey on my skateboard, I started out in my teens learning to skate on the streets, to finding my way around transition and parks in adult- hood and now to skating into the unknown in my mid-30s. In my own phases of life and death in skateboarding, I’ve gone through different phases and sev- eral knee injuries. I have lost my ability and confidence to skate stairs and gaps. Through muscle wear, I’ve lost my ability to pop my board high enough for a range of flip tricks and skating on ledges. It’s been like farewelling long- time friends and it was frustrating to deal with initially.
If I had dwelt on the fact that my body had changed and I kept pushing to do the same calibre of tricks, I probably wouldn’t be skating today, but
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