![]() There is a sensation millions of people crave. It is something innate and indigenous to their soul. It rests inside their cerebellum, waiting for any opportunity to burst out with joy. It is also something that never dies. It is passed along from generation to generation, like the sexual urge. It resides in beings from both genders, but seems overwhelmingly strong in males. It is the need to ride. It doesn't really matter what the vehicle is…it can be a horse, a surfboard, a wave, or sliding down a mountain on skis or a board or even a sled. It can be a waterski, or skateboard, or a motorcycle. For some it is an airplane, or a sailboat. It is the ride that is the compelling need. It is the sense that you are getting the wind in your face, a rush from the danger, or just something for free. Cave paintings from hundreds of thousands of years ago show people riding on sky chariots. Before the wheel was invented, man rode elephants, and used currents and wind to ride the ocean. I would bet many of your fondest memories are of some thrilling moment riding something scary: A roller coaster, a pair of water skis, or a tricycle. It starts with childhood, but it grows as we mature and often becomes an obsession. Cowboys and Cowgirls spend most of their lives around their horses. Motorcyclists often go to their graves riding their "hogs". Recently we have invented a new vehicle called the internet. It has generated a new pathological dependency called Internet Addiction Disorder (IAD). When a person cannot avoid spending huge amounts of time "surfing" the 'net', it can cause all sorts of other social and personality conflicts. Surfing the net is not a ride. The difference is clear: The other kinds of obsessions have to do with the outdoors and nature. The freedom of being excited by "riding" the wind, the snow, or the water, is unlike hiding in a room and becoming absorbed by some amorphous electronic stimulation. The results are diametrically opposed: Riding a motorcycle or a surfboard creates a collision between nature and the rider. Surfing the net or getting stimulation from a video game is 100% self absorbed. The fundamental element of interacting with nature is missing. Many boomers swear by "Natural Highs". We seek them and when we find them we design our lives around them. They have given birth to enormously successful businesses that serve collateral needs for clothing, equipment, facilities or entertainment. Extreme Sports has grown exponentially as the technology of "Riding" explodes. Now there is windsurfing, hang gliding, bungy jumping, wakeboarding, even rocketing into space, all with specialized equipment and supporting associations and publications. Though video gamers will claim the "High" they get is just as fulfilling and challenging as extreme sports, they know in their hearts they still need that testosterone rush that can only come from facing certain death while going over the falls trying to catch a ten foot high wave. My point is, healthy individuals who seek thrills and tranquility by riding their motorcycle or their surfboard are evidence that mankind has an innate desire to challenge nature. Sitting in front of a personal electronic device, fiddling with a control device or driving a golf ball into a video screen will never substitute for the need to express total and complete freedom from fear and control. The Ride will always be the elixir for that unexplainable need. |
Archives
January 2025
|