Yoyoing has changed my life. Seems like a funny thing to say about a toy right? I mean, it’s a toy. How could a toy change my life? At first it seemed too abstract to think it could happen, but here I am saying it. Yoyoing has changed my life.
I started yoyoing as an excuse. I needed somthing to do for a talent gig. I had grown tired of cubing, it had spent it’s fair amount of time in my “stupid hobby” slot, and it was time to move on. I thought this yoyo thing would be the same. “It’ll just be another thing to DO” I told myself, “I NEED something to DO”. My plunge into yoyoing was more of a dip or my big toe. I yoyoed back in 3rd and 4th grade with my trusty F.A.S.T. 201, it slept for ages, and was very reliable and maintenece free at the time. I mastered picture tricks and Man on the Flying Trapese, but never truly progressed from there. I dropped it and picked it back up in my sophmore year of high school. I needed something to DO.
My plunge into the yoyoing world was a dip of the toe, but someone pushed me in. This someone was myself, but it felt like an outside force. I began to fall for yoyoing. I loved yoyoing. It was the only thing I could think about. For the first month or two, my Pocket Change was my unseperable accessory. I had taken the plunge.
Here I am. I’ve been yoyoing for a year and change. Yoyoing changed my life. In one delightful year, I have experienced some of the best things, and a few of the worst. Here I am. I’m here to stay.
Yoyoing has changed my social life. I went to MA states after while of yoyoing, shiny new DV888 in hand. I was ready to compete. I did terrible. I sat in my seat pretty much the whole time. I talked to Andrew Dalton, and I talked to Kevin Newell (sp?). I was the new kid on the block, and I had no friends. The yoyoing community is a fantastic, friendly place. You can be accepted by them for one thing: Your love for yoyoing. I didn’t know this at the time, and I sat in my seat. I later went to NER, with my shiny polished DV888 in hand. People reconized me from the web boards and striked conversation. I met many new friends with new, open eyes on the community (this revelation actually happend much earlier online, but for the sake of the story…). I got second. Second in Sport 1a, mind you. But it was second nonetheless. I wasn’t nervous around the community anymore. I wasn’t nervou around the community THAT I BELONGED TO anymore. Yoyoing changed my social life.
I met many friends at the meets that I attended, and later organized. I consider many of them my best of friends. I love you guys to death. I meet people on the street now. This little toy makes me approachable. When someone sees a toy that they can relate their childhood to, it makes it more likely to start a conversation with me. My yoyo is a social weapon, one that I can use to my advantage.
Yoyoing changed my goal setting skills. I wanted to be André. I wanted to be JD. I wanted to be Hiroyuki. And good god, I wanted to be Guy. I wanted to be as good as them. I wanted to be as good as them NOW. Yoyoing flicked my nose and said “Hold up partner! You gotta learn the basics first!”. Yoyoing helped my realize that in life, you have to split up your goals. Baby steps, take your time, THEN you get the boon. I don’t have the boon yet. I have one of those lilttle goodie bags you get at 2nd grade birthday parties. There is so much for yoyoing to offer; I know I’ve only scratched the surface.
Yoyoing has shown me who I am. I am Patrick R. Condon. I am a Snowboarder, I am a Skateboarder, I am a Yoyoer. I AM A YOYOER. I am creative. I am unique. Yoyoing made me unique. Yoyoing made EVERYONE unique. Yoyoing gave me the oppurtunity to flex my creativity. I can do things I never thought possible. There is literally an infinite canvas to be drawn on (Infinite Canvas is actually one of my tricks, too!). Players from around the world have the power to weild their brush and change the yoyoing world. I have my brush, do you? My brush represents myself, it IS me. My personality reflects my yoyoing, and my play reflects my personality. It lets me tell myself who I am. I am a complex spirit, and my yoyoing tells others that. It tells ME that. I learn who I am through my brush. My brush is a yoyo, and it has shown me who I am.
Yoyoing has changed my life. It has changed me in more ways than I can possilbly state through words. I’m not a different person, but I AM a changed one. I hope the mark left by yoyoing is a permanent one, forever improving my life. Even if I cease to yoyo in the future, know that I have had too many experiences, met too many friends, and acheived so many great things to forget any of it. Even if I cease to yoyo, I will still be a yoyo player at heart. I know who I am, I know what to do, and I know how to get there. I learned this from a silly toy. I learned this becasue I needed something to DO. Yoyoing has changed my life.
I am Patrick R. Condon. I am, and forever will be, a yoyo player. No matter what happens, no matter what I do, and no matter how long I yoyo, yoyoing has changed my life.
Seriously though, great inspiring post! 