there are two very clear sides to this argument… however, i would have to favor that yoyoing is a way of life, considering i wouldnt be who i am without it… ok so its not my all time number one, but is important to me and my life would be very different (maybe over) without yoyoing… scary but true
the original argument seems to be that a way of life need be one’s sole priority or pursuit.
in reality, a way of life is simply one path of many which leads a practitioner to a deeper, more meaningful life experience. i practice many arts which might be called ‘ways of life’, but they aren’t mutually exclusive. in fact, they inform and enrich each other. sometimes i draw comparisons between yo-yoing and playing music… or skateboarding… or budo… it’s all connected, and attempts to delineate it or categorize it are useless. one way of life, with which you come to terms through any number of arts & experiences.
there’s a great ■■■■■■■ quote - “he did each single thing as if he did nothing else.”
if that’s your attitude, then life itself becomes your way of life, and yo-yoing is just one facet which contributes to the whole.
Me thinks the better saying is “yoyoing is a kind of art.” or some other understanding. Why do I say art it’s a form of expression, but don’t get me wrong I don’t see it on the same scale as painting sculpting etc. I just see it as a form of interesting expression.
Oh…just go throw or something. If it is your life, who cares? If it isn’t your life, who cares? Either way is fine with me. Some sponsored players make yoyoing the thing they do all day, it is what they like and it’s how they want it to be. Again, who cares.
I’m not going to read this whole thread because I’m lazy, but I want to say this.
Before dedicating my whole life to Yo-Yos (and some other skill toys) I was in a really bad place in my life, getting in alot of trouble both with friends and family and the law. Yo-yoing became my first positive outlet since I stopped playing team sports freshman year in High School, and without yo-yoing I would probably be in jail or dead (I’m not exaggerating, that is actually what I believe the truth is). So just because you might not think yo-yoing is enough to make it your life for some of it, ITS MORE THAN ENOUGH.
And remember, without those of us who have made yo-yos our “whole lives” you wouldn’t have yo-yos, because I know my crew stays pretty busy running Rebel Yo-Yos and we’re small, the bigger companies wouldn’t exist without people eating, sleeping, and breathing yoyos
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I don’t know that the internet is at the root of the issue, but this is one of the things about our contemporary moment that most bums me out.