Page 37 - THE ENDLESS WAVE | Skateboarding, Death & Spirituality

THE ENDLESS WAVE | PART ONE
Life and Rebirth
There’s a guy I know named Mike who lives in Texas. We met over 25 years ago when I first started up the SkateGeezer Homepage. He’s a very talented artist and he’s always struck me as someone who will call BS any time he sees it. I sent him some of the chapters I’ve written so far. His first take was that he enjoyed some of my anecdotes, but he was still trying to figure out how this book could benefit skaters. He also won- dered if I would address what makes skateboarders any different than anyone else facing death or dying. This chapter is my way of addressing these two critical ideas.
Skateboarding has been part of my life for over 45 years. It is something I will always do. In fact, when people ask me if I’ll ever stop, I tell them in my deep- est Charlton Heston voice “You’ll pry this skateboard from my cold dead hands.” I am under no delusions, however. I am very aware that I belong to a pretty small constituency — those folks over 50 who still skateboard. I know it’s growing, but I get this weird feeling it’s a bit like vinyl. Sure, record sales are exploding, but it seems everyone is just streaming music. Plus, pretty much all the record shops have closed where I live.
Nostalgia is something that heavily meshes into skateboarding. But tied into this nostalgia, is a painful boom/bust cycle. When you step back and look at things, both life and rebirth are tied directly into skateboarding.
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