If you follow this blog via RSS or Blogger or Twitter. You're probably a bit surprised right now. Surprised because the last post I wrote was about 3 years ago, and it was about quitting derby.
I let this blog lay dormant for along time, and even considered deleting it all together. What kept me from wiping it off of a server somewhere forever was the fact that people still read this crazy thing. I still get comments, emails and Twitter follows. People still refer new skaters to my basics posts on gear, training and techniques. So I felt bad yanking that resource away from the community just because I wasn't doing anything with it. The work I did on this blog also contributed to my tipping point. The one that pushed me off the track and back into a classroom for the past few years. So in a lot of ways, it felt like kicking a loyal dog who had only ever been my friend.
Now I'm thinking about bringing it back to life. I'm thinking about how useful some new articles and maybe a forum would be. I'm thinking that there are still freshies and coaches and captains and board members out there, who could use a little burnn now and then.
So, you're probably wondering, has ReiZer come back to roller derby? Nope. Am I planning on it? Nah, not really. I've still got lots of interest in the sport, but just like when I decided to retire, I have zero interest in the games. You know the ones. The ones that make you feel like roller derby would be just fine if the league just weren't part of the picture.
Which got me thinking: I've been up to quite a bit since I last posted here. I went to school for a tech degree (Look Ma! Now I can make websites for real!) and certifications. I learned a bucket load. Not just about academics, but about myself. I sort of set out on an intense self-development journey. It was painful. I almost ruined my relationship and had to rebuild it. I took myself apart from the inside out and put the pieces back together again. When I was skating and training and being a captain and board president...well I look back now and it's astonishing, and even laughable how small and narrow my focus and my thinking had become. Roller derby was good for exercise, and in a lot of ways at the time, good for my spirit, but it ended being bad for my personal growth and my life goals.
The interesting part, is that a lot of others ex-skaters and volunteers have had the same experiences and insights I've had. I see now the reasons why the typical problems that exist in many leagues flourish, but I don't think it has to be that way. I think broken leagues can be put back together the same way a relationship can be mended, or a flawed way of looking at things revised. And just maybe, some of you are interested in talking about that. Maybe there could be a platform where league issues and growing pains could be discussed with the same solution-focused collaboration that derby people talk about deconstructing skills and strategies with.
I also think that in every league there are skaters and leaders with a lot of good things to share and teach, and maybe they don't have the time or desire to create their own platform to do it and would appreciate a space where they can do so as guests.
So how about it? Anyone interested in Fishnet Burnns coming back? Any aspiring roller derby writers or sages of the track out there? How about league leaders with an interest in making things better? Let me know what you think.
