The Board List: Finding Your People
Why passion based friendships are the mid life secret to happiness
As a weekend passes that included Go Skate Day, International Surfing Day and World Bathing Day, and everyone I know shared an instagram describing how much these sports mean to them, a few things struck me.
Firstly, I was too busy enjoying Go Skate Day at a skate park, that I totally forgot to get any footage, and to be honest I was ok with that, I know I’ve had a good skate when there’s no footage to mark it! Secondly, for so many people it wasn’t just the sport itself that has meaning for them. It’s the people that surround it.
Friendships that you make later in life around new found passions hit differently somehow. They cut across age, background, work and education - all of the normal factors that somehow thrust you into friendships don’t apply here. You bond around a simple love of how something makes you feel, and potentially a stage of life where you really just need that feeling. That freedom and sense of being yourself.
I’ve made friends through being a beginner skater at my local park and beginner sessions. I keep in touch with several people who have come to our events and I just hit it off with. I’ve met others at retreats, women who are going through periods of transition in life and just get it. I’ve met fantastic women through my surf fit group, joyful women who are grabbing life with both hands and who I feel very thankful to have in my life. I feel super lucky for all of it.
This post really struck me this week.
I have lots of friends who also have kids, who are juggling work / running their own business, and they often question how I find the time to engage in the sports that I do. This post above pretty much sums up my response, feel free to use it as yours!
Have a good week, enjoy the list x
Don’t Be Board
Free Surfer Assault x Wave Length Surf Magazine
This post made me genuinely sad when I saw it. What makes it worse is so many people in the comments downplaying pretty abhorrent behaviour. Sigh.
Jameela Jamil: I’m giving up being interviewed by women
I’ve always been a fan of Jameela for telling it how it is. And the reality is that sometimes the worst enemy of women are simply, other women. This is a pretty shocking account of that in reality in the world of journalism, well worth a read.
New York Times x 80 year old clubbers
Love this account of Papy Boom, a Belgian non profit that seeks to address loneliness for older people and create opportunities for fun.
Why I wish I was 5 again: Check out this drop in
It makes me so happy that there is a younger generation who believe that anything is possible in skateboarding. Check out this drop in, unbelievable.
Get on Board
UK Summer Surf Event Guide
This is a great guide of upcoming events on the South Coast.
Chloe Covell: Always Inspiring!
If you’ve missed the footage from the recent x games, this run is well worth a watch, and is good incentive to get down the skatepark and practice, practice, practice (in my case with an acceptance I will never be this, but still).
Learn to Rock Fakie in Your 40’s: Aunty Skates
The Aunty Skates guides are always worth a look, she breaks them down into super easy to understand steps.
Queer Skate Forum: 28th June
Another event, another brilliant collaboration between @respectisrad and:
@bd1.skate.volunteers @newwaveskate_uk @transkaters @melaningalsnpals
@respectisrad @goodpush @citymillskate
The Board Women Crew
Meet this week’s board crew member: Ella Turner
Ella is one of the aforementioned brilliant crew that I met at Surf Fit classes in Brighton, run by OceanSet, and led by the wonderful Marianne. Ella is a late convert to surfing, and she’s a brilliant ray of sea sprayed sunshine whenever we meet. Over to Ella for her answers to this week’s questions.
When and how did you get into board sports?
I was in my early 40s and so often saw mums sitting on the beach while their kid - and usually the dad - did active stuff in the water. I didn't want that so I booked some surf lessons with my daughter in Cornwall. She didn’t end up getting into it but I loved it.
For a few years I would have some lessons on holiday once or twice a year and thoroughly enjoy myself. But you don't make any progress what way and I'd be back to square one every time. In the last couple of years I've started to want to make more progress so I've put in more time (not enough to make fast progress, but as much as I can) and found a brilliant group of surf buddies in Brighton through Ocean Set Surf Fit classes. Trying to improve brings its own challenges because there's more potential for frustration and disappointment, but I love it and I'm sticking at it!
What do you love about them?
For me, being in the water is a big part of it. Time in the sea is a magical thing. It’s ever changing: sometimes it’s exciting, sometimes it’s peaceful. My favourite memories are being out in the early mornings as the sun is coming up. I've loved getting stronger through something so fun and that gets you outside in the elements.
Describe how it feels when you’re on a board
So many things. There's a sense of freedom and satisfaction in getting better at the physical skills. Confidence to be able to navigate the water. Absolute joy in moments when it comes together on a wave or when you're out back chilling and the light is hitting just right.
What would you say to anyone considering trying surfing?
I'm inspired by old lady surf accounts. Especially the ones who started in later life. It's never too late!
That’s it for this week! Thanks for reading x If you’re enjoying the substack, please do give us a cheeky share and if you’re not paid up yet, get on it! You get a free monthly online event, and 10% off IRL events and our soon to launch merch. And you get to support the podcast and see this community grow x