Postcard 002 - Diving Boards
I've always loved water, though I've never been a great swimmer. I grew up with really bad asthma, so breathing, especially when it came to exercise, was always a challenge. I also never learned proper form. Swimming was mostly the vehicle by which I got to places I could jump into the water.
Growing up in Austin, I spent hundreds of hours each summer at our local pool, often at the deep end hucking myself off the diving board. "Hucking" being the operative word because I had very little finesse when it came to aerial movements in my childhood. Once we moved to Seattle, my parents graciously allowed us to get a trampoline, which significantly up-leveled my acrobatics. I learned to spot landings, control my flips, and even get creative with variations.
While Seattle summers aren't long, they are the best in the world (truly), and I quickly started spending mine at our local beaches. Many of the docs in Kirkland and Seattle have benches or bench-like structures at the end, ostensibly so that people can sit and enjoy the sunset. My friends and I used those as launch pads, sprinting down the dock and taking a step onto the flat before launching ourselves into the water.
This summer, I've leveled up from my high school shenanigans, frequenting Madison Park, where there's a floating dock with two diving boards. Like many public parks, the regular crowds include people of all ages, and the dock tends to attract people of a variety comfort levels when it comes to engaging with gravity.
We've been having a streak of 90' days, so I found myself at Madison Park multiple times this week, each time alternating between the finesse of a movement I'm comfortable with and have landed hundreds of times and truly hucking myself off the boards, exploring something new. The crowd on the dock is great, with people cheering and high-fiving for impressive tricks and collectively gasping when someone lands askew.
I've realized that it has become one of my favorite places to "play" — to let go of what I think is expected of me and be present to embrace the situation at hand. I know that my days on the board this season are limited, and that getting the Nth rep of the same flip is only so exciting, compared to developing the comfort of a new perspective.
Here's to hoping you have also found joy and play this summer!