Li Charmaine Anne's Blog
July 21, 2024
Skateboarding and Me
When you skate, you’re not a victim. You’re the conqueror: of an obstacle, of the board, of your fears.
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I’m not a very good skater. I can’t kickflip yet and I still get psyched out by drop-ins. But fakie shove-its feel soooo good and when I ollie over a crack, it feels like I’m flying. I suck, but unlike P.E. and tae kwon do class, I don’t feel shitty about it.
Something that might surprise people is just how supportive skaters are. Even if you slam—actually, especially if you slam—skaters will bang their boards in applause. Because real skaters know that skateboarding is about having fun. It’s about The Stoke—something that’s hard to describe, but when you feel it, you know it.
There’s something special about skateboarding and I’m still not quite sure what it is. It draws people who crave adventure and novelty, but it also draws people who have experienced trauma, who are under-represented in mainstream society, art, and sport. Who are on the margins of society.
I don’t think it’s a coincidence that I fell in love with skateboarding as the person I am. And I can see people reading the lists of characteristics about and rolling their eyes: here goes another Woke liberal, identifying herself as a victim.
But when you skate, you’re not a victim. You’re the conqueror: of an obstacle, of the board, of your fears. All skaters know that skateboarding is 90% mental. The ability to drop in is less about physical finesse and more about overcoming that wall in your brain with giant graffiti letters spraypainted on it: “YOU CAN’T.” It’s a “fuck you” to that “you can’t.”
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Read the full post on my website!
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I’m not a very good skater. I can’t kickflip yet and I still get psyched out by drop-ins. But fakie shove-its feel soooo good and when I ollie over a crack, it feels like I’m flying. I suck, but unlike P.E. and tae kwon do class, I don’t feel shitty about it.
Something that might surprise people is just how supportive skaters are. Even if you slam—actually, especially if you slam—skaters will bang their boards in applause. Because real skaters know that skateboarding is about having fun. It’s about The Stoke—something that’s hard to describe, but when you feel it, you know it.
There’s something special about skateboarding and I’m still not quite sure what it is. It draws people who crave adventure and novelty, but it also draws people who have experienced trauma, who are under-represented in mainstream society, art, and sport. Who are on the margins of society.
I don’t think it’s a coincidence that I fell in love with skateboarding as the person I am. And I can see people reading the lists of characteristics about and rolling their eyes: here goes another Woke liberal, identifying herself as a victim.
But when you skate, you’re not a victim. You’re the conqueror: of an obstacle, of the board, of your fears. All skaters know that skateboarding is 90% mental. The ability to drop in is less about physical finesse and more about overcoming that wall in your brain with giant graffiti letters spraypainted on it: “YOU CAN’T.” It’s a “fuck you” to that “you can’t.”
--
Read the full post on my website!
