On Remote Work Loneliness and Skateboarding

These days I make sure to carve out time for a coffee with my favorite global storyteller, Marisa of The Connectary. Our time together is always high energy yet grounded in purpose and deep conversation. At the end of our last coffee date together, she said I better put ‘Skateboarder’ on my website. So here we are and that explains the headling on the homepage because it tells an important story at this point in my life.

I am not a professional skateboarder by any means and never planned to actually be riding a skateboard as much as I am at this phase in my life, but thank goodness I grew up skateboarding and thank goodness I am still skating now.

It was this time last year that I was swimming through the depths of remote work loneliness and was actively in pursuit of a way out. Zoom meetings with the camera on were not helpful. Interactions at coworking spaces were minimal at best. I needed community but that felt a bit impossible as I live in a rural neighborhood and it seemed like more things were available in larger cities. Luckily my 7-year-old and I were spending a lot of time at a local park together and on one occasion I brought our skateboards. I had shown her how to ride when she was a toddler but the interest never stuck. Until this particular park visit. We must have stayed for hours (time seemed lost as we were having so much fun). We shredded and essentially played “skate”. It was pure big kid energy and I felt so infused with joy. We went home elated and I assumed she would likely lose interest if I tried to initiate another skate day with her.

To my surprise, her passion for skating burned bright and we quickly found ourselves at that park daily and sometimes two times per day if it was the weekend. We started inviting friends from the neighborhood. I was coming home elated every single time. Exhausted but elated and filled with pure joy. I felt compelled to keep this thing going and the Olivella Skate Club was born. For almost a year now we have met weekly at a confirmed location and invite the town for a family-friendly free-skate. Even the local mayor comes to join us. The only commitment is that each family must bring a snack to share for the snack table. It is truly something special.

Since the start of the skate club, I have noticed two things. That the loneliness epidemic is real. That remote work can be sneaky and you may unknowingly fall into isolation without recognizing it. Trust me, before I realized I was lonely, I thought I was social enough. I had gone to the gym on an almost daily basis. I did the morning school drop off and afternoon pickup so I made small chatter with local parents in passing. But if I think about how many hours I work in a day, those micro-moments of socialization really didn’t fit the basic amount of socializing I now know is important for a chance at well-being. Gathering once per week with local families at skate club allows for hours of socialization and not just with adults but also with the kids. To hear about their worlds, and to see them progress as skaters is truly a blessing. I arrive home exhausted and so fulfilled every week after skateclub.

And so when I say on my website that I am a skateboarder, it’s true and thank goodness for that. And if you used to skate and wonder if you could ever get as stoked as you were before, the answer is YES. (And I highly encourage it).

Until next time.

Thanks for reading,

Diane