This little Filipino girl was AMAZING! I was in Venice Beach, CA last Sunday and I was shooting some street photography. I found myself shooting most of my photos at the skate park located there and there was a lot of talent there! This little Filipino girl was one of the few that caught my attention. When I first saw her, I thought it was cute that such a young person, a girl no less, was out there in the skate park and working on her skills. I didn't think she was serious business. As wrong as it is, and boy was I wrong, my first impression of her was "Aww how cute! A little girl on her board all suited up with a helmet and pads and everything!"
Well, as soon as I saw her, she totally surprised me. She had her board on the ledge of the pool/pipe and jumped right in and handled her business like a pro. She totally owned the pool during the time she was in. I assume she was a regular because everyone else gave her right of way and let her handle her thing. This girl was what? probably no more than 7 years old? FEARLESS! She caught some MAJOR air. Her skills rivaled many of the kids there! The deepest part of the pool to the ledge of the pool was probably 8 - 9 feet deep. When she caught her air, she accomplished probably 5 ft above the ledge for a total of 13 - 14 ft! I was able to pop a shot off when she did this...
During the time I saw her do her thing, I was fucking inspired. All the air she caught, all the tricks she did...my god it was BEAUTIFUL! As young as she was, and as serious as she was...really inspired me to be as fearless as her. I was also a bit envious because as old as I am, I have to say that I've become a bit more fearless...more of a go getter with how I go about things, but as much as I've grown lately in that respect, I'm not even a quarter of how much guts and courage this little lady has.
I feel terribly bad for "judging a book by it's cover" when normally I try not to. I've done it before plenty of times and everytime I've been proven wrong but I've taken something out of watching her. She probably started young with her skateboarding and with more practice, in a couple of more years, she'll become even better and probably go pro. I sensed the dedication and love she had for skateboarding and I need to follow suit with my various passions. I've been getting better at recognizing my talents and skills but I think I can do better. I always think I can do better but I need to step it up a bit more. It is the experiences like this and the past couple of entries (which unintentionally had a running theme) that allow me to catch myself and reassess everything and I'm always thankful for such experiences.
I think I'll try and go back on another Sunday and catch her again and hope to gain just a little bit more inspiration from her.