Happy Fourth of July!
I recently read about the joy and pain of learning new things as an older human. I turned 45 a few weeks ago and think that might classify me as “older,” or at least older than I was last year.
A few months ago, this post by Jeff Corsi inspired me to want to take up a new activity of my own in older age—longboarding. I love the way Corsi—seemingly effortlessly—cruises the city streets with complete control of his board, carving and flipping it around at will. I wondered how long it would take me to acquire such advanced skills.
I shared this intention with my buddy Matt, and he graciously told me he’d send me his longboard that he no longer uses. True to his word and generous nature, that longboard arrived at my house earlier this week.
After doing some research on trucks and kingpins, I was able to get everything assembled and ready to go. The only thing left is to start.
As if to motivate myself to actually follow through on this, I bought a shirt with a funny little monster skateboarder on it while attending the Blue Ox Music Festival last week.
But maybe it’s something I don’t actually have to follow through on, or at least not long-term. In fact, I stumbled upon the following video on how to have a good summer, guaranteed, and took encouragement from Step 1: Start a hobby (with the intention to quit).
If you start a hobby forever, it’s a lot of pressure to overcome at first. Starting a hobby for the summer, though—that’s something anyone can get behind. And you don’t lose sight of the fact that a hobby is something to be enjoyed for its own sake.
Will I develop Corsi’s smooth and graceful longboarding flow? Probably not. But I think I can carve my own path to some unknown destinations and enjoy myself along the way.
