by Dev Hardikar
I’ve been skateboarding a lot since coming back home. I’m still not very good at it, but that’s okay. Falling is good. Every time I fall I get a little bit better. With skating, it’s such a tangible feeling of progression. I fell because I fucked up, and I’ll be a little bit better at not fucking up next time.
In real life, sometimes you fall on your face for no reason at all, and if you have the audacity to even ask why, you’re kicked while you’re down. You can lose everything for no reason at all. The lord taketh away, I guess. We’re all just a couple bad days away from losing everything we have—stability is an illusion.
It’s nice to escape that harsh reality, even for just a little bit. For an afternoon in a parking lot, stability isn’t working a second job, giving it all to your landlord, and hoping things get better. Stability is landing on the bolts, and leaning forward so you don’t land on your ass. Stability is momentum, soft focus and hard asphalt. Skating is complete freedom in movement. It’s a good way to get out of your head because you have no choice but to be in your feet, in your hips, in your torn-up hands.
Smoky Quartz 