adventures in snowboarding, part 1
A professor that I adored once told me that everyone had a core emotion that they based their selves on. You would be able to see what this core emotion was by observing how they reacted instantly to certain events, such as an injury or a traumatic experience.
His, he told me, was anger. And it was this reason that he meditated everyday - in order to absolve, or at least control, this inner anger. (He had a phD in psychology, but I have feeling that this was just some quacked out personal theory that didn't really have any published validity. I thought it was interesting nonetheless).
In any case, when he told me this, all I could think of was all the occasions that I erupted in uncontrollable laughter. All the times I fell down the slopes when I first learned how to ski and then couldn't stop laughing because my body hurt so badly... That time when I sprained my ankle trying to teach myself how to grind on my inline skates in my backyard and almost ended up with a concussion. I just lay on the concrete next to my pool and held my stomach, body convulsing from laughing so hard that I had tears streaming down my cheeks... And that other time in high school when I had a near-frozen field hockey ball slammed into my ankle during a game, perfectly hitting the exposed skin right underneath my shin guard. The coach almost yelled at me for being silly, until she noticed that I couldn't get up because I was injured....
I told my prof about these instances and commented that it's not exactly joy or amusement that seems to be at my core, but just a whirlwind of hysterics (which, of course, amused him but left me a little disturbed).
---
I thought about that particular conversation more than a few times this weekend, as I sobbed my way down the mountain on my brand new snowboard. No more hysterical laughter for me, just a lot of snot and tears. Does this say anything about what's now at the core of my self? Or does this just show you that I've simply grown up to be a big fat scaredy cat? How embarassing...
---
I went snowboarding for the first time this weekend. Paul had been prepping me since he got me the board, sharing little tidbits that I should keep in mind, not to mention repeatedly telling me how hard I was going to eat it (with a little glint in his eye, I'd like to add).
We drove up to upstate NY with some friends and I was promptly placed on the bunny hill with an instructor who would show me the basics.
Despite my sheer terror in being left on the board alone on flat terrain, nevermind a slope, I did pretty okay. The instructor told me I was a natural! He seemed pleasantly surprised at how fast I had progressed in the hour we had, and said that I might even be ready for the chair lift by the end of the day. (Eek!)
[By the way, I'd like to point out that at this point, I had only burst into tears once, and it was before I ever hit the snow - but I'll tell you more about this in a bit.]
The tears came on the following day when I decided that I was too good for the bunny slope and ventured onto the dreaded chair lift (Now, flash back to all the times I've fallen off the chair lift during the one other time I've ever tried snowboarding many, many years ago. Did I really want to relive all that embarassment and pain again? Oh yeah, no choice, you gotta get up the hill before you try to come down it...)
I cried when I fell while trying to sit down to strap in my bindings. I cried when I fell flat on my back while trying to transition onto my toes from my heels. I cried and cried every other time that I fell down and couldn't get up. Not just because I was hurting and frustrated and cold, but because my poor bottom was so sore despite the bulky butt padding I was wearing. Because I was scared that I would fall again and next time, I wouldn't be okay. Because my mom was mean the last time we had spoken on the phone and all I really wanted was a hug and not looks of frustration from my riding compaion. And because I was so embarassed about my crying that I couldn't stop.
---
Despite the sobfest (which was, funny enough, really nice because I got a lot of emotional catharsis out of it), I really did have a great time. Snowboarding's a lot of fun!! And I think I did pretty okay, if I say so myself - even Paul said later that he was impressed with how well I had been doing.
Even so, watch out if I come to a mountain near you. =)
---
p.s. So here's the silly thing - the only two real injuries that I sustained this weekend were snowboard-related but had nothing to do with snowboarding.
Firstly, I got hit square in the head with Paul's snowboard first thing Saturday morning as we were climbing the stairs in the lodge to get to the slopes! He was ahead of me and I guess he momentarily lost his balance and let his snowboard drop a little, landing straight on top of my head. Owie. Great way to start off a sport, eh?
Secondly, as I dropped down on the snow in order to strap my foot into my snowboard, my right knee somehow landed on the edge of my board, resulting in severe pain, some bleeding and a lot of bruising. (Does this make me KK3, Ajit??)
And yet, I can't wait to go again!!
Cheers.
His, he told me, was anger. And it was this reason that he meditated everyday - in order to absolve, or at least control, this inner anger. (He had a phD in psychology, but I have feeling that this was just some quacked out personal theory that didn't really have any published validity. I thought it was interesting nonetheless).
In any case, when he told me this, all I could think of was all the occasions that I erupted in uncontrollable laughter. All the times I fell down the slopes when I first learned how to ski and then couldn't stop laughing because my body hurt so badly... That time when I sprained my ankle trying to teach myself how to grind on my inline skates in my backyard and almost ended up with a concussion. I just lay on the concrete next to my pool and held my stomach, body convulsing from laughing so hard that I had tears streaming down my cheeks... And that other time in high school when I had a near-frozen field hockey ball slammed into my ankle during a game, perfectly hitting the exposed skin right underneath my shin guard. The coach almost yelled at me for being silly, until she noticed that I couldn't get up because I was injured....
I told my prof about these instances and commented that it's not exactly joy or amusement that seems to be at my core, but just a whirlwind of hysterics (which, of course, amused him but left me a little disturbed).
---
I thought about that particular conversation more than a few times this weekend, as I sobbed my way down the mountain on my brand new snowboard. No more hysterical laughter for me, just a lot of snot and tears. Does this say anything about what's now at the core of my self? Or does this just show you that I've simply grown up to be a big fat scaredy cat? How embarassing...
---
I went snowboarding for the first time this weekend. Paul had been prepping me since he got me the board, sharing little tidbits that I should keep in mind, not to mention repeatedly telling me how hard I was going to eat it (with a little glint in his eye, I'd like to add).
We drove up to upstate NY with some friends and I was promptly placed on the bunny hill with an instructor who would show me the basics.
Despite my sheer terror in being left on the board alone on flat terrain, nevermind a slope, I did pretty okay. The instructor told me I was a natural! He seemed pleasantly surprised at how fast I had progressed in the hour we had, and said that I might even be ready for the chair lift by the end of the day. (Eek!)
[By the way, I'd like to point out that at this point, I had only burst into tears once, and it was before I ever hit the snow - but I'll tell you more about this in a bit.]
The tears came on the following day when I decided that I was too good for the bunny slope and ventured onto the dreaded chair lift (Now, flash back to all the times I've fallen off the chair lift during the one other time I've ever tried snowboarding many, many years ago. Did I really want to relive all that embarassment and pain again? Oh yeah, no choice, you gotta get up the hill before you try to come down it...)
I cried when I fell while trying to sit down to strap in my bindings. I cried when I fell flat on my back while trying to transition onto my toes from my heels. I cried and cried every other time that I fell down and couldn't get up. Not just because I was hurting and frustrated and cold, but because my poor bottom was so sore despite the bulky butt padding I was wearing. Because I was scared that I would fall again and next time, I wouldn't be okay. Because my mom was mean the last time we had spoken on the phone and all I really wanted was a hug and not looks of frustration from my riding compaion. And because I was so embarassed about my crying that I couldn't stop.
---
Despite the sobfest (which was, funny enough, really nice because I got a lot of emotional catharsis out of it), I really did have a great time. Snowboarding's a lot of fun!! And I think I did pretty okay, if I say so myself - even Paul said later that he was impressed with how well I had been doing.
Even so, watch out if I come to a mountain near you. =)
---
p.s. So here's the silly thing - the only two real injuries that I sustained this weekend were snowboard-related but had nothing to do with snowboarding.
Firstly, I got hit square in the head with Paul's snowboard first thing Saturday morning as we were climbing the stairs in the lodge to get to the slopes! He was ahead of me and I guess he momentarily lost his balance and let his snowboard drop a little, landing straight on top of my head. Owie. Great way to start off a sport, eh?
Secondly, as I dropped down on the snow in order to strap my foot into my snowboard, my right knee somehow landed on the edge of my board, resulting in severe pain, some bleeding and a lot of bruising. (Does this make me KK3, Ajit??)
And yet, I can't wait to go again!!
Cheers.