Writing To The Internet About Death

Skateboard long enough and you’ll find yourself writing memorial captions.

Some for people you’ve never met but were influenced by. Some you met at a demo or trade show, where they signed your T-shirt. Some you knew closely. 

The longer you’re in it, death’s radius has a way of closing in on you. Closer and closer with each new passing. 

You turn to Instagram for collective processing and mourning through an explosion of memorial posts. 

Instinctually picking up your phone to scroll, immediately putting it back down, not wanting to face the sadness. 

Pick it up again. Don’t want to miss the memories, stories, and photo reminders. To share in the loss. 

Pick up. Put down. Repeat for the next few days, until, despite knowing better, it appears everyone has moved on.

To the outside, it seems we experience a disproportionate amount of death among us. Maybe we do. Maybe that’s part of it. 

We could use less death, but the connection to our community — I don’t think we’d change it for the world.