Page 129 - THE ENDLESS WAVE | Skateboarding, Death & Spirituality

THE ENDLESS WAVE | PART TWO
life-variables. Resulting from Skateboarding’s accessibility is the potential to build relationships with people from very different and diverse backgrounds. I know many people have been able to find a sense of belonging, friendship and family through skateboarding.
People typically see the urban environment in a very what-you-see-is-what- you-get, purpose-built kind of way. A bench is for sitting on, a sidewalk is for walking on, a curb is to separate the road from the sidewalk, stairs and hand- rail are for going up and down and a pool is for swimming in. I’m sure you can relate to the experience of being kicked out of a spot for skating, like the neighbour, hero or authority figure that doesn’t understand Skateboarding, with comments like, “What are you doing here? Why are you skating here? This isn’t a skatepark! You’ve got everything you need there!”
The love for skateboarding opens one up to see these different parts of the en- vironment in very different ways. Through the Eyes of a skateboarder, the world is a playground. That empty pool becomes the next session for a group of friends. That bump in the sidewalk becomes a booster to put a trash can next to so it can be Ollied over. That bench becomes an object to grind and slide on. The stairs that people walk down can be skated up or down.
Without skateboarding, would you have visited or traveled to the places that you have been? People that don’t get skateboarding may look on and think that this is vandalism, while skateboarders look for opportunities and avenues to express their craft and spread their energy.
There are many areas within the urban environment that often seem like they’re neglected and unused or utilized in ordinary and mundane kinds of ways, like say, the abandoned building, empty car park, ditch on the side of the road, set of stairs around the back of a building, loading dock that gets used once a week for deliveries or the benches in the plaza that only few people walk through during the working week. By day, these places are col- ourless and dull from barely anyone stopping to appreciate and marvel at and outside and beyond of this, skateboarders roll in with a fresh, loving perspective and light up the spots with their love, creativity and playfulness.
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