Pandemic Experiences
We recently asked for submissions from our followers on their experiences of skateboarding through a pandemic. Here are some of the wonderfully written, emotional & motivating responses we got back.
Anonymous
To start back in March 2020, I was sitting in maths class when we got the news that the schools will close for two weeks until March 29th due to COVID-19, I really didn't think much of it, until that date was postponed. We began having online classes which many teachers didn't bother organising. I began waking up at 6:00am just so I could get a skate in at the local before school so I would have the park to myself and avoid any close contact. Then come back to stare at my laptop for the majority of the day. At least the weather wasn't the worst at this time of the year.
Summer came pretty quickly and restrictions were lowered and I could skate with my friends again. As quickly as Summer came, it went and I was back in school in September. Going into 6th year and the Leaving Cert about nine months away. The cases and restrictions were still pretty low again and I could still skate after school with my friends.
Leaving school for the Winter break and cases on the rise again was quite stressful to say the least, and on top of that, the mocks only two months away. It's hard to skate in Winter in Ireland as everybody knows, but the love for the sport couldn't keep me in. It was then time to come back to school on the 6th January but cases were too high and we were kept at home for online school once again, this time I couldn't get out and skate before school, it was always dark and wet, I would always be staring at the weather app all the time to see if we might get a dry day anytime soon, those dry days grew more scarce as we went deeper into the Winter months.
I vividly remember a two or three week period of nothing but rain and darkness, waking up staring at the same wall for 6-9 hours of the day while online classes were being played in the background, all I could think about was going out to skate. At the same time of this the government was and still is at the moment of writing this, having discussions on what is going to happen with the Leaving Cert. I wasn't handing in assignments, not listening in class, having just about enough motivation to get out of bed and walk 3 feet to my desk. I was doing absolutely no work whatsoever. I was paralysed with stress.
Nowadays it seems to be a bit dryer but absolutely freezing, at least I get to go out and skate and get back into a routine. Without skateboarding I have no idea where I would be right now. It really does keep me organised and sane at this point. That's really it, the stress of the uncertainty of the Leaving Cert has really been condensed and muted by skateboarding and hopefully will continue to do so for the remainder of 6th year.
Shona Ellen
Skateboarding has always been a part of my life, even though I didn’t actively participate in the sport until last year. I am thirty-two years old and like many 00’s kids, my teenage years were filled with a love for tv shows such as Jackass and Viva La Bam, as well as skateboarding related documentaries and movies, in-particular the 2005 film Lords of Dogtown. I always connected deeply with the sense of freedom and joy that seemed to inhabit skaters and their personalities. I wanted to be like that, and as someone who is deeply anxious and self-doubting, I envied it.
Last year, when the pandemic became a harrowing reality for people worldwide, each day I found it harder to live in the moment and to concentrate in general. I needed something to focus on. I started to think about all the things in life that I put off doing due to fear or concern about what others would think of me. All of that felt so silly to me now that we were living in this world where everything is incredibly uncertain and restricted. Upon feeling this way, I asked myself what was the one thing in life that I regretted not trying sooner, and the answering echoing inside me was simple: skateboarding. It may sound childish to some, but have you ever had a dream when you were a kid that never felt accessible to you? As a young girl growing up in the midlands of Ireland, I never felt like learning to skate was possible for me. My town had no skatepark and I felt too self-conscious to even pick up a board. So, I let it go.
One day in 2020, I came across a video featuring my favourite skater of all-time, the legendary Rodney Mullen. His ethos towards skating and the almost spiritual way he learns new tricks has always fascinated me. In the video he said many poetic words of wisdom about the art of skating, one line that stood out to me immediately was when he said “I had an intuitive yearning that skating was for me”. I related to that deeply. I also learned that Rodney learned how to skate on his own, completely by himself and he also still skates alone to this day. It is meditative for him. If the greatest street skater of all-time could learn how to skate by himself, why couldn’t I teach myself a few tricks? I bought myself a beginner board and started to practice every day. I started my learning how to balance and push myself around my backyard. I was terrified of anyone seeing me, embarrassed by my age and lack of skill. All the while, I felt so satisfied at the end of each session. I learned that there is satisfaction in failing and trying again. And it gave me a new appreciation for every skater in the world who falls and gets back up again. I realised that skating is a metaphor for resilience and an incredibly humbling one at that. Each time I failed, I tried again. I even started learning some basic tricks, I watched many youtube tutorials trying to grasp an understanding of the physics of what I was trying to achieve. It was challenging, frustrating and above all, a lot of fun!
The first time I landed a shuv-it I honestly couldn’t believe it. It seemed impossible at first but I persevered and it paid off. It gave me an immense self of achievement and soon after, I even started to skate in public! I bought myself a penny board and began cruising around my local area, not giving a flying fu*k what people thought of me. It was liberating!
Although, I have found it difficult to be able to skate throughout the harsh Irish winter, I am looking forward to getting outdoors again soon, practicing tricks and enjoying the learning process. Skating is helping me to reconnect with myself in so many ways. I am so glad I found to courage to pick up a board, despite the fear of judgement.
To quote Rodeny, “The biggest obstacle to creativity is breaking through the barrier of disbelief”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJemHQ_qcRo&ab_channel=EllieJayden
By Shona Ellen, Co. Offaly.
Lucy Murphy
“Should we get skateboards!?” My sister whatsapped me one day, long ago, during the first pandemic.
I laughed her off, and maybe I didn’t even respond. My sister and I, both finding ourselves unexpectedly at home again, had become closer than ever.
In fairness, we had surfed all summer long, finally moving out of the ‘total beginner’ category, which we had been firmly set in due to years of only “on and off” surfing. This time, we got to surf every day. And in those days I felt blissfully grateful that I was getting this time to do what I loved.
As a damp winter seeped in and the buzz of summer wore off, my sister returned to her city job, and I to teaching, away from the sea, away from our surfboards, away from each other.
I don’t know why I initially dismissed her suggestion of skateboards, because I very soon began looking at videos, looking at prices. I typed in ‘what is the difference between a cruiser and a surf skate?’ to Google. I fantasised about what board I would get, if I were to get one. Where I’d take it. Maybe from visualising this over and over, something hit home. And I texted my sister back, four months later “ok, I think I’m gonna get a skateboard.”
The surf skate had piqued my interest the most. I loved the fluid movements, the cutbacks, the pumping. I ordered one off Mindless Longboards after watching videos of a 10 year old ripping around a skatepark. I clicked “pay now” and sat back waiting. Hoping that I didn’t just spend €150 on something I wasn’t going to use.
Walking back to my house after a run one day, I saw a white delivery van exit out gates. I sprinted to the back door, and saw a large oblong cardboard box resting against the wall. I tore open the box, and with reverence, slowly drew the skateboard board from its plastic sheath. It positively glittered. Love at first sight.
In the following days, I swallowed my 25 year older pride, and drove alone to public carparks, complete with knee pads, elbow pads, wrist pads and helmet (no shame) which I bought from someone random on Facebook marketplace. I would park the car, and pray that most of the people in the carpark would leave. They wouldn’t of course, and I’d curse under my breath, pull a scarf up over my mouth and nose and step out of the car. Decked up to the nines. Not making eye contact with anyone and hoping to God they wouldn’t recognise me.
I prayed people would assume I was a twelve year old girl, like the kids that rollerblade around carparks at the weekend. I brought my headphones, and used these to remove me from the outside world.
To my relief, one bothered me. Some were curious to see me go, but after a minute or two, lost interest, and returned to whatever they were doing. After a few minutes of extreme self consciousness, I became absorbed in what I was doing. Pushing, leaning, steering, speeding up, slowing down.
Of course it took a while, and I did suffer a few tumbles due to leaning back back way too much. But something small had clicked, and I could thread myself through invisible markers, I stopped having to tell my feet what to do and felt them just do it.
I floated, I glided, I looked where I wanted to go and my board took me there. Embarrassingly I even laughed out loud, and couldn’t stop the smile that was under my scarf.
An adult, on my own, learning to skateboard. Yes, I am aware that I am very much a loser. But inside my mask I knew I was really a winner.
I texted my sister, and she excitedly replied that her boyfriend had gotten her skateboard lessons in Dublin as a Valentine’s Day present.
This weekend, she comes home for the first time in months, and is keen to try out the surf skate. I know that it will be just like surfing for us.
It’ll make us get up and out. It’ll make us don knee pads and helmets. It will make us embarrassed. It’ll make us feel like losers, but then make us feel cool. But most of all, it will make us closer.
Beach Skateboard’s
The pandemic hit right when I moved to London for the 4th time (haha) . I was looking for work and had just found a room in a flat in Peckham with fellow skate rats, but just when the virus was getting bad they all left London to be further away from danger. So they handed me the keys to the place on my first day as they packed cars full of their belongings and broke out of virus town back to mom and pops. So nightfall comes in a pandemic and the streets of London are completely empty . I grab my board and bust out the hit all those little obstacles you can never skate due to traffic . As I pushed around the streets feeling guilty about how noisy I was but still having a hoot, the only colour I saw was blue, blue from police and ambulances. It was a very strange thing to see, every four or five streets I would see a cop car or ambulance, the silence was chilling (not that skate kind) , so I returned home to my solitude apartment in the middle of empty London feeling both stoked and bemused.
Joseph Cleary
I’ve been skating since the start of the first lockdown. It’s always been something I’ve appreciated and wanted to get into but just never did, always having an excuse not to.
Once I’d gotten the news that I was going to be out of work due to the first lockdown I knew I was gonna give it a go. I’d been into High Rollers a few times with one of my friends so I knew I wanted to go there to get my first setup, which I did just before Lockdown began.
I started skating in March 2020 on my own in a car park and I still skate every day if I can. It helped me so much through those early months of lockdown, giving me something to do and goals to strive for and just to stay active as well. I’ve met so many wonderful people through skating, and it’s a community I’m proud to be a part of. From a mental standpoint, skating has been really beneficial for my anxiety. It’s given me a creative outlet that was stripped from me because of the pandemic, and something that takes me mind off the negativity that’s in the world right now.
I’m forever thankful to skating, and I implore anyone who’s thinking of getting into it to do it, as it’s been nothing but a positive and beneficial experience for me.
Kimberly Carroll
I fell in love with skating by watching from afar. February 2020 interjected me into a world I had not experienced, I'm 21 and full of hope. I moved out on my own into a new town. There is no romantic tale of woe or bitter warfare, I didn't fall in love with a person, just a feeling that felt so alien to me all my life. It was being accepted, no questions asked. I started with a longboard quickly striving for the adrenaline during the early summer months with nothing to do but find spots and hills and views. I rode upon clouds in September and bought a skateboard, I threw away my fear and anxiety and decided to love it instead of being afraid. I met the most beautiful people who I will never let go, our community is electric. My confidence grew and I licked my wounds. Its hard work but the feeling makes it worth it, like most love. I live in the north of Ireland. But skating is my home now.
Aaron Winters
It struck me so odd that as far back as even April or May of last year people were already complaining about going crazy during lockdown. While I can empathise with those more extroverted who rely on happy hour and softball leagues to stay sane, I personally didn’t get it. As an artist and a skater, I’ve never been one to get bored. Not only am I skating more than ever, the time not spent commuting or at the movies or whatever has led me to start shooting photos and doing a zine again.
Despite the board shortages and cancelled events, skateboarding on the whole seemed to do alright for itself throughout 2020. From folks building backyard ramps and DIY spots to (here in Sacramento) Sunday pop-up park sessions, skaters continue to prove how well-prepared we are at adapting, even at social-distance.
Andrew Peard
The lockdowns have resulted in a new group of skaters, seen the return of some old ones and tremendously improved the entire Island’s flat-ground game.
Somehow throughout the whole pandemic, there has been no shortage of Irish skate media. Dodds filmed two parts with Ross Doyle, Transition sold out immediately, Fawk Yeah came through with a number of edits and of course High Rollers released a brilliant full-length. And those are just the ones I can think of, as there were many more. These videos are fuelling the scene. Everyone’s dying to get back into the streets, stack some clips and cheer on their mates. Let's see what 2021 has in store for us.
Andrew Gibbons
I always seem to find myself in odd places these days… lockdown being no different. When it hit Europe in February/March I was in Alicante, Spain. Lockdown there was a little different as you weren’t allowed out to exercise and if you were caught it could mean a fine. Luckily the apartment I was staying at was on the edge of town near a large industrial estate that had now emptied due to business shutting down. So around 5 or 6pm everyday I used to take my shopping bag so that it would look like I was heading to the shops and walk towards the shopping centre adjacent to the industrial estate. I would cut down an alley, cross some train tracks and skate around a dead-end street with just a flat wall to hit (see below).
This became my ritual for the next six weeks. I even managed to learn nollie/nose bonk wallrides on that wall… but the strain of a never-ending lockdown became a lot to bear mentally. So, I made the decision to return to Ireland albeit reluctantly. But it was impossible to say when Spain would open back up again and since my job requires travel… work was out the window.
In late April I find myself back in Wicklow facing a slightly less restrictive lockdown. After I quarantined, I immediately set to work waxing the curb at the local leisure centre (see below).
So, myself and the locals had somewhere to roll other than the skatepark and I managed to learn slappy crooks and 5-0’s on it. Speaking of the skatepark… the local kids had burrowed under the fence so we pretty much had the place to ourselves. The odd bust but I got the feeling the cops could have cared less.
Well, this continued for 4 more months until August. This is when I got a job in Saudi Arabia so a Corona test and quarantine later, I’m stuck in the hottest place on the planet. Not the most friendly or hospitable place but I was lucky that my apartment was adjacent to a multi-storey car park (see below). This provided respite from the most intense sunshine I ever experienced. Since other than work every day there wasn’t much else to do. Saudi culture is very insular and if you’re not a Muslim or living on a compound it’s completely isolating. But I did skate every day. This was somewhat of a reprieve. But the loneliness got to me. It was the most isolated I had ever been and I didn’t speak to anyone outside of the people I worked for for about 4 months. I eventually cracked and quit this January.
I flew back to Dublin and realised I couldn’t spend the winter in my mother’s spare room and I was worried the borders would shut… So, I moved back to Spain.
Skating in lockdown has been interesting for me but isolating. Part of me wishes I could be back in Dublin with my friends but realistically there’s no chance of work there. I did manage to learn more tricks this year than I have in the previous 20. I have no idea where I will end up this year. A lot of borders are shut… I’ll just keep skating until my money runs out or I keel over. Lots of people have passed this year, neighbours and acquaintances.
Dwinthy
During the first lockdown, I had lots of free time so was pissing about the house and found my old skate deck that snapped. I started when i was in about 5th class and just stopped skating in first year.I still loved it just didn't have the time. So with too much time on my hands i decided to get a lend of one of my old mates board and went down to Greystones skatepark me local, hopped the fence and everyone was there all the people who had suddenly given up had just came back se we just chilled out skated messed around with the whole skatepark to ourselves. Even the cleaner who was hired to maintain the building was sound about the whole thing. We got bin bags and threw our rubbish in and left them by the door so she could throw them away. Eventually I got a new board in high rollers and now I'm as hooked on skateboarding as i was the first time. Theres a huge sense of community at that skatepark between the locals and it's great to see the whole park together again.
Sean Fagan
I moved to Vancouver two years ago, don't plan on coming home any time soon unfortunately. Due to Covid, lack of work at home etc.
Just for some background, everything here has been far looser than Ireland for the most part. Barbers open, bars open etc. Obviously everything is very strict in regard to masks but yeah it's quite a bit more open which I nearly feel bad about sometimes knowing how my friends/family have it at home.
Anyway, been skating on and off years, and probably started really back into it about 4 years ago and haven't stopped. When I first moved here I made a fair few friends through skating and it was great. Through Covid most have gone home so I've found myself skating alone for probably the guts of a year now. It's been a real eye opener for me, skating is an absolute meditation and something I feel so grateful to have. I know plenty of people who don't go outside here, have no escape, nothing. I honestly feel like skating has saved me over here. I prob won't see my family, friends, Ireland for three years at least by the time things clear up. Sitting and thinking about that would make anybody sad, but skating doesn't really allow myself to. I get out absolutely everyday and skate, let off some steam and feel like I'm achieving something.
A lot of the time when I skate, others will be there too also doing their own thing. But it's such a nice feeling to even have that, feels like human contact without the contact haha all small talk as you'd expect but it's nice and makes me feel part of something which I think is so key right now
I usually skate at BC place, it's a beautiful spot, perfect manny pad in the heart of downtown. Only yesterday I skated there with 4 others, by chance three of which were Spencer Hamilton, Andy Anderson and Sascha Daley - obviously I was way out of my depth needless to say but the buzz it gave me was something else. Made my week to be honest.
Got a few taps off them for the battle i was in which gave me such a high haha
I've had so many highlights this year since Covid, all of which revolve around skating and so many stories. Spent about an hour with Andy Anderson on my birthday and he was breaking down his philosophies on life, skating. Absolutely unreal.
He was fairly shocked to see such a big scene in Ireland and loved our spots which i could see him tearing apart haha
Even through my local skate shop, I was in a fair bit and now I get friends and family discount which made me feel truly like I belong here
My local diy spot was closed down for a few months when Covid first started, Britannia courts, I got involved with that and helped with cleaning/constructing while it was shut. Also kept our eyes on it to make sure people weren't using it bc there were issues were people skated it when it was closed which meant they were going to tear the place down - it's me, two other Canadian lads, and Chris Haslam, he lives in his van next to the diy so he did most of that work (obviously that's fairly insane in itself that he even knows I exist and another small thing that just gives me a great buzz and makes me happy to be here in a weird way haha) But it was a nice project to keep me busy, another aspect of skating that saved me, and I wasn't even on the board.
I don't really think my email has much of a story to be honest, more so just a general thought that skating during Covid has allowed me to feel part of something.
Moved here with a girl, we broke up after 5 years in summer and I was lost, again if I didn't have my board I don't know what id of done. Sense of belonging is critical at the best of times, but especially now. Skating has given me that, makes me want to settle down here and spend many more years here. I'm not from Vancouver and never will be, but honestly through skating, with the scene being absolutely huge here it feels like I'm truly part of something and have a right to be here if that makes any sense
Anyway I'm done now, that actually felt very good to get out. I'm beyond appreciative for skateboarding and will never stop being grateful
Thanks and have a good one!
Anonymous
After giving up skateboarding at 12/13 to play football competitively without the worry of broken wrists and the likes, the pandemic and my younger brother brought me back into the skateboarding world at 20 years of age. I am even more obsessed and invested in it now than I was before, every single morning during the past summer I went down to the local park with the sun shining and skated. It has been one of the few things that I have been able to look forward to during this pandemic and forgot the feeling and satisfaction that comes with trying the same thing over and over until you get it. After managing to tear the same ligament in both my ankles I still look forward to getting back on the board and I guess that sums up the relationship that I think most people can relate to in regards to skateboarding.
Jamie Doherty
I was living in Canada when I started getting back into skateboarding. There was a skatepark near our house. At the time, we had been sharing one skateboard between three of us and it was just a hassle.
I didn't have the money to be buying a new board so I found someone on Craigslist selling a second hand. The deck was in bits and had definitely been left in the rain, but it was better than nothing. Id skate to work everyday and I'd get out most evening for a skate too.
Skateboarding has been a gift in general not just during the pandemic. Its one of the only times during the week I'll forget about any worries I'm having and just enjoy myself. I always feel better afterwards.
During the first two lockdowns Its been one of the outlets where I can meet up with my friends, have a laugh and exercise. Other times we will have a few beers, skate and listen to music.
This latest lockdown has been very bleak in comparison I haven't seen any of my mates for about 6 weeks. I go skating after work on my own which isn't as much fun, but I still look forward to trying new tricks and pushing myself. Ive only gotten into skating in the last year or two, but its my favourite thing to do. If Im not skating Im reading about it or listening to podcasts on it. I feel like people who don't skate are missing out.
Emil Yonkov
As most people in Dublin have had to for a long time now, I've had to commute a decent distance to get to work. Mind numbing journeys aside, the problem was, I didn't get to skate in the day-time for 3/4 months of the year. (Insert paragraph about how Dublin needs an indoor park). Anyway, come summer, when it's not raining, and traffic is flowing well, skating would ramp up again finally. Since last March, I've been lucky enough to be able to work-from-home, and I don't figure I've had more than a week between skates, and if it's dry, I've defaulted to skating daily whenever possible. I know I'm not the only one as I've met several other lads who've also been newly blessed with more hours in the day.
Skating at its purest, to me, has always just been about having child-like fun riding around on a plank, challenging yourself to learn new tricks on it, and maybe doing the same old shit over and over again to remind yourself of what you actually can do. This elated feeling really does get to another level when you're out there with mates, the hype of a session, skaters from all walks of life zoning in on the singularity of a trick with a collective cheer when someone finally rolls away from something they've not rolled away from before (whether it's a drop-in, or a back tail on the highest & longest ledge at the spot). So this side of skating has taken somewhat of a hit, but sessions haven't changed all that much; we can still skate outside with friends whilst being 'socially responsible', and still have grumpy by-standers twitching at the sight of non conformists.
The industry itself must have taken a hit, with shops having to close - but this isn't unique to skateboarding. What might be unique though, is the resourcefulness shown by people in the community nationally. I don't remember a time when there were so many Irish owned companies with actual stock available, able to help out by giving boards to skaters who deserve it most, and an opportunity for others to give back by supporting local brands.
Overall, we can talk all day and night about the negatives of the pandemic, but it's not difficult to see where it has presented the skateboarding community with a few unlikely positives. There may well be dudes and dudettes who disagree completely with me, and have had their skating change for the worse since this all began, but hopefully for them it's a temporary blip.
The surge of openness regarding anxiety shadowing people's lives has been sobering, but grossly piggy-backed by the wellness industry (or the 'new' diet industry, whatever you want to call it). It's a preying on vulnerable people who just want to feel better - and are constantly being promised that it's possible to feel 100% happy all the time and blablabla. It's not, and that's bullshit. The reality is that many people are sick right now, most people's lives have been put on some kind of strange pause, and it's a struggle for a lot of people. Being vocal can help, doing things you know yourself you enjoy can help, I don't think targeted yet irrelevant good-willed sentiments from an app can help in the long run. This is very relevant to skateboarding nationally and internationally, as we've had our share of unfortunate losses that shook the community in the recent past. Sometimes standing on the board and pushing can alleviate negativity, sometimes even skating can't lighten the load of life, but we need to get it out there that we're here together skating and living through this pandemic, and we're here for those who it's weighing down more on.
Tom kelleher
My experience with skating during the pandemic has been amazing to say the least. I used to skate as a kid during summer months and stop for a good few years until in December 2019 I picked it up again. When it came around to the start of COVID-19 outbreak it was just me and my close friend Sacha skating but I had another mate Jude who always said he wanted to skate but wouldn’t buy a board, but then with the lockdown coming and festivals closing my friend got his refund and his bought his first board with it.
I remember when he ordered it he came down to DCU where we had set up a mini DIY in the back carpark because during lockdown it was empty and he practice riding on mine and Sacha’s board.
When his fresh deck came he was determent to learn an Ollie while moving on the first day and he did.
That summer was so good it really broke my shell a bit, with my friend Jude just starting to skate he pushes Mongo and dresses funky but he didn’t care so I didn’t care. I started to dress better and now before a skate sesh when I call or text the bros we always say something like “Ight so I need to eat sum get a fit ready take a shit and I’ll be down so be like 20 mins”
The fits while skating is to me something that I love, when I feel good I skate more flow like
I used when skinny ass jeans and now I’m on the baggy pants shit and clunky DCs I love it.
Also with skating ive met so many people who gave me advise and all the guys at my local I know now and it just feels so good especially during such a shit time i don’t know what I’d be doing without it, it’s really a whole Philosophy to me.
Also my first real skating magazine was off yous the 2020 transition and I love it even with this thing now, writing this making me feel all good inside even tho I’m doing online school and I got the leaving cert I know when I’m finished I’ll be skating and I’ll survive.
Michael Edwards
For the last few years I’ve spent most of my time either in work or in the pub. I would skate as often as I could but work and Irish weather made it difficult to get out frequently. Once the country started to lock down it was the perfect opportunity to get out and be active and productive. I was out of work (but getting COVID payment!) and weather was beginning to really pick up since it was just before summer. I was completely motivated to just go out every day and skate. It didn’t matter if there was no one else, I would still go out on my own and practice flat-ground or even skate gaps by myself. During this time I was taking excellent care of myself. I suddenly had time to cook every day, be healthy and really take care of my body. I had even stopped drinking for a couple months. For me the pandemic has been purely positive! I’ve been saving more and taking much better care of myself. I feel stronger than ever before and I’m ready to start a heavy year of fun and skateboarding! I definitely look forward to travelling and I miss seeing a lot of friends but aside from that life is easy and smooth sailing, I have no complaints! I feel for people that are having a hard time during the pandemic but we have no control of the world around us. Social media has us in a constant demand for mind numbing entertainment but life can actually be very slow moving. Often not a lot will happen throughout a day so it’s no wonder that a lot of people will lose their mind because they’re conditioned by the constant stream online. Don’t get frustrated with the slow movement of life, sit in silence, feel your body and think your thoughts. Throw away your phone for a while, turn off the TV and just let life happen. Go be productive and make positive changes for yourself, work on your mental and physical health or do absolutely nothing! It doesn’t matter, you’re in control. Do whatever you want with your time. Get in tune with your body and mind, just let the world do whatever it’s going to do and live your life simply. Skateboarding is such an amazing thing in that you are simply just out in the world having fun with friends, exercising, not taking life so seriously, bringing out your inner child and supporting others despite their skill level or yours! You’re doing difficult actions and absolutely slapping your body off the concrete every single day. Its difficult to be egotistical when you spend most of your time failing the trick you’re trying and lying shamelessly on the ground tired or in pain. It gives a real sense of what it is to be human which so many people don’t experience in the modern world. How could you not go insane sitting on a couch all day going through a rollercoaster of feelings and emotions from just looking at a little piece of plastic, metal and glass the size of your hand. It’s not a natural way to live. Slow down, live simply and be kind.
Jamie Grogan
Skateboarding through a pandemic was a good experience for me. At the start of all this madness I wasn’t too sure what to think. All I knew was that I was off work for a while and had plenty of time to skate. Obviously at the start I was a bit sceptical meeting up with people for a skate and to be honest we didn’t keep distance or wear masks or anything like that , we didn’t know enough really and trusted everyone was safe and thankfully everyone was. I feel if I didn’t have something like skating over this lockdown I wouldn’t know what to do with myself and I’m sure others feel the same. I count myself lucky to be a skater at a time like this cause I feel if it wasn’t for skating my mental health would be a lot worse and I would be extremely bored. A lot more people were taking up cycling and running and stuff but I already had something to do, and something I loved to do all the time anyways. Thankfully I didn’t get much hassle from the guards but I heard some stories. Certain skate parks were being closed off and this was a huge bummer for everyone, especially the locals. I tried not to go out of the 5km range most of the time but we had all the time in the world to skate and needed a change up from skate parks. When the country was in full lockdown we use to meet up in town and skate spots that we would usually get kicked out of, maybe it was due to lack of staff but we were loving it. In recent times the weather hasn’t been on skaters’ side. This was the worst for me because there was only so much I could do in my house. The minute the road was dry id be on the board and texting a couple of the lads looking for where the skate is at. All in all it was a good experience having so much time to skate and have the crack with friends when the weather was good of course. It kept my mental health strong as ever through such a horrible time and I got to appreciate skating and the mates around me a lot more. Would be a lot worse without them.
Luca Mcaleese
JeremyO’Hanlon
Jeremy O’hanlon