All these years later, I'm only now starting to understand how much of my life has been shaped by Skating, not just by Skating itself - but by reactions to it and how I looked for the same creativity everywhere.
Skating taught me that talent wasn't everything - style was. Skills and tricks are fine, but there's an attitude and a flow, which only the greatest skaters have. They display that attitude, even when rolling along, not doing much at all. The video above, of Antwuan Dixon, is a case in point: it's amazing in terms of tricks - hammers, everywhere. But more than that, he is the epitome of a style and flow which is at once effortless yet completely breathtaking to watch. At around 55 seconds, he lays down a nose slide to 270. Every time I see it, I'm stopped in my tracks. It's like he's not even aware of what he's doing or how good he is. He is just....there, in the moment.
Ever since I stepped on a board, I've been looking for those moments constantly. Not just in Skaters, either: in musicians, TV presenters, actors, friends, and lovers. Do they have that flow, that sense of being at ease, that creative grace? It's like a door you can open to let your true self shine out.
