Hope you have a Swell Valentine's Day

Hello Swell fans! Happy Valentines Day!

In my family, Valentines Day is practically treated like Thanksgiving 2.0, where on a day dedicated to love, we focus on all of the things we are grateful for. As someone who picked up a skateboard- seriously- for the first time this year I still have laundry list of reasons for why I love skateboarding and why I am grateful it is now a part of my life. 

It reminds me how grateful I am to live in a place where most days present the opportunity to be outside enjoying fresh air. During COVID, it has been particularly hard for me to find excuses to leave the house, but ironically focusing on the content of this blog has reminded me how special Santa Barbara is and how much I love living here, and learning to skate here. 

Where maybe I was not born into skating like some of you, it is still a family affair, and there is no group of individuals I could love more than my family. Swell Skateboards has brought our team together and strengthened our connection in ways that tend to weaken over time as everyone gets older and ventures deeper into their own worlds. My family has a long history of bonding over recreational activities. The kids in my family have participated at one point or another in all of the ‘board sports’, wether it be wakeboarding, surfing, or snowboarding, but we had failed to add skateboarding to the list until recently. Still, like the others it is becoming something we do and look forward to together, which is certainly cause for appreciation.  

I love that skateboarding isn’t easy. I am competitive out the wazoo in absolutely everything I do, and I am so appreciative to have things that knock me down sometimes (literally). It makes me a better person, it reminds me when and where to place my competitive drive, it makes me more aware and appreciative of people who have different skills and strengths that I don’t, but also reminds me that anything worth having requires work (and a few scrapes and scabs in this case). 

There are so many reasons I am grateful skateboarding has ventured into my life. Beyond it being fun, it has brought new avenues of love into my world, which is something I am excited to celebrate on this Valentines Day!

-Mae