After 55-Anthropologist: Rolling Right Along Avoiding Crushing Mistakes

Thanks, RA for this ARTICLE. Here are Dominique and Dan. She has literally moved on to greener pastures. Lol  Fascinating work that Dan does!

(I didn’t post the whole pic of them because I don’t like posting pics of biracial children because it seems to me that some people have an unnatural or creepy attraction to them. Yuck!)

___________________________________________

It’s been a while! I tell ya–I’ve been having a good time. I jumped headlong but rolled backwards into inline skating this summer, aka Rollerblading. So, I’ve truly been rocking and rolling. I’ve roller skated and inline skated since I was in my early 20s, but strayed away from the sport for long periods.

I’ve decided now that I want to develop advanced skills in inline skating. Why?

Well, not only is it relaxing, freeing, engrossing, and lots of fun, it’s also a great investment in my future. LOL What I mean is that according to practically every expert on exercise regimens,  it’s one of the tiptop cardio workouts, high calorie burners, and has the lowest impact on knees and other joints. This is why it’s common to see many people in their 80s and sometimes 90s skating at roller rinks and along multiple-mile skateways, like along the Schuylkill River in Philly. It’s like riding a bike. Once you learn how to ride a bike, you never forget. For ex., we often see pictures of extremely elderly Chinese people in China riding bikes since it’s a common mode of transportation there. In certain places like Montreal and various European cities, inline skating is a form of transportation.

So, I not only love inline skating, I can look forward to doing it for a few more decades with my grandkids (granddaughter learning skating skills, now), and it’s an activity that I share often with Darren. Yay!  I make it a point to skate about 10-12 hours every week. We skate together  for several hours each week because he enjoys it too.

I can skate energetically for at least 2 hours before I get really tired. In many ways, just like in life, as long as you’re doing what you’re supposed to do with your mind and in the case of skating, with your torso, thighs, legs, feet, and toes, the wheels on the skates or the wheels of life will do the rest.  You can’t allow your quads, glutes, and hamstrings to get lazy while you’re rolling. Oh no-no-no! That would be a major mistake!  If you do, you will fall on your face–IF you’re lucky. Falling forward is definitely the absolute most preferable way of falling when inline skating since you can use your hands to break the brunt of the fall. You certainly don’t ever want to fall backwards! That could be a skull crusher if you’re not wearing a helmet. I had a terrible free fall backwards without my helmet on about 8 years ago. The back of my head hit the pavement and bounced.  I was lucky to be able to get up with my skull in one piece! Never again. I wear my helmet now! If you ever try this sport, always at least wear your helmet and wrist guards. Needless to say,  I’ve become very good friends with with my glutes, quads, and hamstrings (the major muscles used in inline skating at my level).

Similarly, you have to keep your mind and body working for you each day in your life, practicing the right form, to avoid the usual mistakes or the crushing ones. Ouch! Life is mostly a mental experience.

Avoiding enough of life’s usual mistakes makes you a winner! Too many women, for ex., do NOT avoid those usual crushing mistakes: (1) getting involved with/spending too much time with the wrong man, (2) not breaking away from naysaying others or those who don’t reciprocate enough, (3) spending money foolishly, (4) not maintaining their looks, fitness, and spiritual zeal for life, (5) investing tons of time, energy, and money in education that won’t pay off (another form of non-reciprocation), (6) not using youth wisely, etc. There is no particular group of women who makes these mistakes, but there is no denying that the  impact of making these mistakes will cause a much more destructive outcome for certain ethnicities of women than for most women in other groups.

Though I have fallen many times while skating (just like in life, huh?), the more I skate, the more I realize that skating is a metaphor for life. Lots of analogies there. Plenty of hidden lessons about navigating life smoothly can be lifted from applying good skating form and techniques while rolling along. So, I’ll be talking about some of them.

I’d said sometime ago I’ll be doing some pod/vodcasting about what life is like “After 55” as well as more about the cultural Anthropology lessons that some of us apply to the lives we currently live. Might as well mix that up with lessons from the rolling life.