Page 15 - THE ENDLESS WAVE | Skateboarding, Death & Spirituality

THE ENDLESS WAVE | PART ONE
I never dealt with certain shit until I reached my 50s. Of course, things change with time and nowadays, people are a lot more open to dealing with mental health issues. But the reality is that if you use skateboarding as your only path to freedom, you aren’t dealing with the problem. This can have a substantially negative impact as you move through life.
If you carry with you hatred against people who don’t look like you or skate like you, it is you who have the problem. Skateboarding promotes freedom, but if you are running away from an issue that needs to be dealt with, you will never be truly free.
This is a hard truth but it is critical to accept. As much as we love skateboarding or any other activity, it can’t truly replace family or close friends. A skateboar- der knows instinctively to value each moment riding — whether alone or in a group. But as you move from adolescence to middle age and beyond, you real- ize that skeletons in closets have a peculiar way of rearing their heads. Wha- tever demons you may carry, skateboarding has proven to be a great way to keep them at bay. But the demons won’t fully be exercised until you face reality.
I have tried yoga, cooking, gardening and conversing in another language. At some point or another, these activities have let me down, often with ridicul- ous and embarrassing results. I used to say that skateboarding never let me down. But the fact is that skateboarding is an activity, not a person. No matter how much you love your skateboard or the act of skateboarding, it will never love you back. It can’t because a skateboard is an inanimate object. An object that certainly improves your life, but it is only an object.
Skateboarding will be the catalyst for you to have experiences that you will love. It will often bring you people you might grow to cherish (and respect). But the fact remains your skateboard will outlive you. In a hundred years from now, your descendants might know that you skated. But one thing is for cer- tain. If you don’t handle your shit eventually, your descendants will have to.
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