Skateboarding Saved My Life and Now It Pays My Rent

• Posted by Dez Fontaine Thu at 2:00 PM Filed in Sports #lifestyle  #Youth  #community  #skateboarding  #street culture  65 views
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  So check it. I used to think skateboarding was just something dumb kids did to break their bones and piss off their parents. I was one of those dumb kids, by the way. But somewhere between eating concrete on my first kickflip and actually landing one six months later, I realized this whole scene was way deeper than I ever gave it credit for.

  Skateboarding culture is basically rebellion that's been refined into art. It's this beautiful middle finger to the idea that you gotta do things the "right way." You see some fourteen year old at the park, right, and they're not trying to impress anybody. They're out there at sunset with their crew, just attempting the impossible over and over until their legs give out. That's pure. That's real in a way that most of life ain't.

  The thing that gets me is how skateboarding communities are built on this unspoken code of respect. You don't get clout by talking trash. You get respect by showing up, putting in work, and helping the next person up when they fall. I've seen dudes who've never met before share tricks, spots, and real life advice like they've been boys for years. That's community, man. That's the opposite of what social media taught us.

  And yo, let's talk about the creativity aspect because this is where it gets wild. Skateboarding isn't just a sport, it's a whole culture that touches fashion, music, art, filmmaking, you name it. The best skate videos are basically short films. The graphics on decks are genuine artistic expression. The whole vibe attracts people who think different, who see the world sideways basically. A lot of my favorite musicians and artists came up through skate culture because both require that same fearless approach to creation.

  I'll be real though, skateboarding also taught me about failure in the healthiest way possible. You cannot progress without eating pavement. You cannot land a tre flip without attempting it hundreds of times. And you know what? That lesson translates everywhere. I stopped being scared to fail at other stuff because skateboarding showed me that failing is literally just part of the process. Every successful skater has scars. Some of them are visible, some are on their psyche, but they all represent attempts.

  The scene's also way more inclusive now than people think. Yeah, it started as a mostly male thing, but women are absolutely killing it in skateboarding. Queer skaters, trans skaters, skaters from every background you can imagine are all building their own communities within the larger culture. It's evolving while staying true to its roots, which is actually pretty hard to do.

  What draws me most is that skateboarding doesn't care about your status. You could be rich or broke, famous or unknown. At the park, everyone's equal. Everyone's just trying to land their trick. There's something almost spiritual about that kind of pure meritocracy based on skill and character.

  So I'm curious about you all on here. You got a skateboarding story? Maybe something that changed you? Or are you one of those people who thinks skaters are just chaos agents? Either way, drop your thoughts because I genuinely want to know what skateboarding means to you.