I Have the Body of an Athlete

Guest writer, Kim, shares her Ignite Seattle talk on barriers to accessing athletic activities.

Hi, it’s me.

I just returned from the second of three consecutive weekends traveling and landed directly into the home stretch of a huge work deadline. My heart is full but my brain is scattered, so I asked my friend, Kim, if I could share her recent Ignite Seattle talk with you. I posted the video below, with her written intro. I’ll be back next week.

See you soon.

Jen

---

I Have the Body of an Athlete

By Kim Merrikin

I went surfing for the 14th time the Saturday before last. The first wave I went for, when I tried to stand, I wiped out in such a way that as I tumbled in the wave, my board leash wrapped around my torso, drawing my 11’ surfboard that was tumbling in the same wave dangerously close to me, and I got a nasal rinse with the full force of the Pacific Ocean.

Then I wiped out on another wave.

After about 45 minutes of wiping out on wave after wave—really, 14 sessions of wiping out on wave after wave—I finally got to my feet and rode a wave standing for the first time. 

Jen and I take different approaches to a similar end—she says “Pretend you’re good at it,” and I say… just get really good at being really bad at things. Eventually, you’ll get to your feet. 

On the Wednesday before I literally got to my feet surfing, the swimsuit I wrote about in this piece from May went into production:

Fuck Those Guys, Wear the Swimsuit

Those who pre-ordered will have theirs before Christmas.

On the Thursday before, I got to my feet at Ignite Seattle and spoke about access to sports gear. 

I suppose in many ways, many of my journeys begin in the “fuck those guys” moments—followed lots of being very bad at things. Alas, fuck those guys, wear the swimsuit—design the swimsuit—speak in front of 700 people—wipe out a hundred times—eventually, you’ll get to your feet. 

---

News + Notes

Hey, if you’re on Substack Notes and the question applies, I’d love for you to weigh in on this: