 Alright so the weather has been not too shabby outside in California so I'm bringing you guys another inside video I just had a topic of discussion I thought I would share with you all excuse me because I feel like a lot of you guys or a large percentage of you guys can relate but even if you if you're not introverted or shy per se I feel like you can still take something from this video I pretty much just wanted to talk about my experience as an introvert within skateboarding like naturally I'm quite introverted I was an only child so I grew up like just like hanging out with myself a lot and like just using my imagination and having fun by myself that kind of thing so when skateboarding come along I thought okay sick like here's this thing I can just go out and do by myself I didn't really start skating with anyone until I was like 13 14 around that age when we had a little crew prior to that point in my life I'd just been like going out and skating by myself and I just thought it was just this thing that you could just do by by yourself which you can but also skateboarding also offers this massive community and sense of belonging kind of thing if you allow it to what I mean by if you allow it to is like if you're an introverted or shy person you may be new to skateboarding and you like a rock up to the park and there's all these people there that just look like they fit in and look like they're meant to be there and all skating super good and they're like wearing all the cool stuff all the right stuff and you're like new it's going to feel super intimidating I just wanted to share with you guys my own experience because maybe it'll help you guys along your own skate path or skate journey or whatever as you guys may know I moved here from Australia so I used to live in Australia and we had a tight little crew would go skating every week and it was sick I felt super comfortable but then from then I moved over to the States so now I'm in Southern California and I had to start over all over again like skating with new people and the first time I ever skated with people was I went skating with a power team Deville the team manager had like DM me on Instagram and he's like yo do you want to come and skate with the power team tomorrow and naturally I was like hell yeah like I'll be there but in my head I was like oh my god like I felt like for some reason I had this massive anxiety about me because I felt like oh I got to make sure that I like wear the right stuff and like I'm like being a certain way and like doing the right tricks and everything else and the funny thing that happened was I went skating with these dudes and I couldn't land anything because I was that in my head about everything I might go through tricks I couldn't front smith I couldn't front tail I couldn't even front 5050 because I was around these people and I was like that stuck in my head it may seem ridiculous for you guys to to hear this but that's like the reality of being an introvert is like constantly being stuck in your head and being super self-conscious about everything and when it comes to skateboarding I feel like everyone's out skating to have fun do their thing get tricks and just hang out you know and it's a very social thing and when you're an introvert it's kind of it can be quite difficult to be social sometimes at least for me it's like really hard for me to kind of be social in some circumstances like I'm very introverted like I like to stay at home a lot if I'm not out skating like I like to keep to myself I don't really I'm not the most outgoing person as you could say like I'm not that glide parties that's like going around and like talking to everybody and stuff like usually if I'm at a party like I'm just like sitting in the corner and if there's a dog I can like pat the dog and it'll make me feel less awkward kind of thing skateboarding is this social community kind of thing so you can go out and go skating and just meet new people and just have mates like that because we all have this common interest which is skateboarding and I think it's sick because it's like anywhere you go if you go skating you'll always have mates kind of thing that's how it works in my head anyway there's been moments where I've been out skating with new people and I've been super super self-conscious because I feel like I have to kind of prove myself not even to them just to prove myself to myself you know and it's like I have to make sure that I can like skate at a level where I think is worthy of being around other skateboarders how ridiculous does that sound but that's honestly how I feel inside it's like I've got to be able to skate at this level where they're going to accept me I want them to be able to like see me skate and then I'm like accepted and I'm like I'm part of it when the whole time you're already part of it anyway because we're all skating and having fun together but that's just how it works in my head so a lot of you new kids that are getting into skating you want to go skate your local park and you rock up and there's the locals and they're all shredding and they look so comfortable on their board around the park and they're wearing them the cool clothes and they look sick like it can be quite intimidating but just keep in mind all those dudes had started somewhere at some point they were they were that guy that was like new to the park or new to the spot and all it takes is like just for you to like kind of join in on that session and like join in on that whole vibe of like being together at the skate park like you don't have to be best friends with someone to see someone like land a trick and you're like who and like you just like give a bit of cheer like you tap your deck on the ground or like you're like hell yeah man like and like it doesn't take much and kind of doing that kind of breaks you out of that shy shell makes you feel a bit more comfortable to be at the park skating when i was in grade eight i was in high school and we had a tony we had this tony hawk autobiography in the library and i borrowed it and i read it and it was super interesting for me to read that he was like a really awkward like shy kid and then he found skateboarding and he kind of found his sense of like belonging and found his sense of like person within skateboarding and which i think a lot of skateboarders have found their sense of belonging it kind of makes me feel less pressed on feeling like i don't fit in within skateboarding when i feel like skateboarding is like a bunch of misfits i didn't fit in we all found this thing and now we're in it together if that makes sense i myself have had that vibe at the skate park or i've rocked up to a new park and you see the locals and you're like oh i'll just like be very modest about my skateboarding and i'll keep to myself and i'll like i'll just like do some like flat ground tricks here and like maybe do like a little 50 50 on the little ledge here but i don't want to venture out into the rest of the park because i you know what i mean it's like everyone's there to skate and have fun you should definitely push yourself out of that that shell and that comfort zone that you're in and just skate the whole park even if you're not that great at skating if even if you're learning if you're at the park and you're like trying to skate different things the rest of the people that are going to see that and they're going to be like oh cool like they're trying this or they're trying that you know if they're not dicks anyway but nine times out of ten they're not dicks and then everyone has fun and skates together and it's awesome it's an awesome feeling because you just feel like you kind of belong somewhere and you fit in if that makes sense but you do feel like there's like a barrier holding you back from like really putting yourself there and like putting yourself out there and skating it just feels like there's this mental barrier which there is i've felt it before and you can almost see it you know when you're at the park and you see a new person rock up and like you can tell they're new at skating and they're trying to be super modest about it and they don't want to get in anyone's way or they don't want to like skate the rest of the park they kind of stay stuck in a corner you can just see it on their face and you can feel that vibe to i've been there everyone's been there you just have to kind of break through you'll feel like you've accomplished something going to the skate park that day because there's been so many sessions i've rocked up to parks and been that dude just been stuck in a corner and you leave and you don't feel like you've accomplished anything like there may have been some tricks you wanted to work on you might have wanted to learn another trick but you couldn't do it because you were like stuck and i've had friends i've brought to parks before and i've been skating and they hadn't want to skate and you can just see it they're like no i'm just chilling man like i don't want to skate i'm a bit tired and it's like you know it's because they're shy they don't want to like break out of their shell and like have fun it's only until later like once everyone kind of leaves that park or the locals like go and then they're like oh it's like my chance it's my opportunity to like skate because no one's here i can like be free but it's like no one cares like just go and skate and have fun you don't have to stress so much about what other people are thinking which is stupid because it i get stuck like this in my head sometimes and i'm trying to give you guys an experience to share with you and some advice but i can't even take my own advice i don't know what i'm trying to accomplish with this video is just some insight and a little bit of experience for you guys that may be shy or you may be new to skating or you're introverted like i am you don't have to feel super stuck in your head like you can kind of go out skate and just get out of your head and just have fun skating and you will reap the benefits mentally physically you'll feel more confident within yourself as well which is sick that's another topic of discussion i'm going to make another video on probably with dan because he can articulate things very well but just how to build confidence in skateboarding it can take a bit even if like you know you can skate good but the confidence in your head just isn't there so it doesn't allow you to perform at your peak another topic of discussion for another video though i'm going to save that for another video so far i feel like i've just babbled on in this video but hopefully you guys can understand what i'm trying to get out don't worry about this background these frames are empty because i haven't drawn anything yet to put in them so just pretend like there's some drawings in there or some paintings in there or something if you are new to skating if you have felt the same way of as i've explained in this video please let me know in the comments below i want to hear your guys's stories i want to be able to kind of have more insight myself by hearing your guys's stories and experiences one thing to definitely take away from this video is that skateboarding is for everyone it doesn't matter what background you come from where you're from whatever how you dress how you just skateboarding is for everybody to enjoy please don't let any outside influence tell you or make you believe that skateboarding is only for like the cool kids at the park or the kids at that like shred you know skateboarding is literally for everyone so yeah please remember that keep that in mind and if you're new here subscribe if you've enjoyed and you've taken something away from this video please let me know in the comment section below i don't really do much talking videos because i just try to go out and skate and then sometimes i'll talk and like have dan talk and whatever but the weather's been like really really melbourne like here we've got some melbourne weather in california right now so i'm just waiting for the weather to pass and then there'll be more skating bids so yeah also don't forget that if you head on over to evening mob and you type in lower 48 at the checkout you'll get free shipping usa wide anything on the web store so yeah we just had some new hoodies made up so go on over check them out if you're not following me on instagram yet follow me on instagram at enuckism and yeah everyone go out there have fun skating and try to break out of your shell if you're shy if you're not then you're good but yeah cheers for watching the video see you guys later