See him wasted on the sidewalk in his jacket and his jeans,
Wearin' yesterday's misfortunes like a smile--
Once he had a future full of money, love, and dreams,
Which he spent like they was goin' outa style--
And he keeps right on a'changin' for the better or the worse,
Searchin' for a shrine he's never found--
Never knowin' if believin' is a blessin' or a curse,
Or if the goin' up was worth the comin' down-- Kris Kristofferson - The Pilgrim, Chapter 33 (Hang on Hopper)Now, Stunt, what the hell does that have to do with Roller Derby?
Well, it's because for some people, Derby becomes a life changing, soul filling, nigh obsessive compulsive facet of who we are as people. It becomes your social network in real life, determining what we do, when we do it, and who we do it with.
When bout day comes, Saturday is a blur of activity, often starting early in the morning and ending late at night. It in itself provides a high that no drug can compare to, a rush of activity and awesomeness that only being involved in something as amazing as this could.
Then... Sunday comes.
You aren't a rock star anymore. You aren't a golden god, or filled with awesomeness. All you have the next day is the hangover from the afterparty, and a feeling of being emotionally drained.
This can be fought, by being with people. By doing things, getting a meal, seeing a movie, hanging out with friends and loved ones.
This can be problematic, as for many of us because Derby seems to attract people who either don't have a metric f-ton of friends, or are prone to letting other friends slide as we spend more and more time at practices, bouts, meetings, ticket sales parties, promotions, etc.
So, we have Derby friends and friends we don't see. As the smaller social groups within a league ebb and flow, new people come in, old people go out, people hook up, people break up, outside relationships start and end, school starts, jobs change, and any of the other 3000 factors that influence who hangs out with whom outside of actual Derby league functions.
So, this friends, is why some of us, (NOT JUST ME) get so down at times. You can't live life at 11 without the demons coming screaming in. So to my Sisters and Brothers, when YOU get the Derby Drop, don't wallow in it, don't make yourself a social pariah. Call someone and have some non derby fun
He's a poet, he's a picker--
He's a prophet, he's a pusher--
He's a pilgrim and a preacher, and a problem when he's stoned--
He's a walkin' contradiction, partly truth and partly fiction,
Takin' ev'ry wrong direction on his lonely way back home. As Per Usual, all comments at facebook
