08.25.09
Skip It
Last weekend I volunteered to help with the Stone Skipping Tournament on the Allegheny River in Western PA. This was an event that featured the Guiness World Record holder for stone skipping, Russ Byars. He had won the world record with 51 skips and would defend his title.
I learned that anyone could enter the amateur contest. So guess what I did? I entered. I figured that since I hadn’t skipped rocks since I was seven years old, I would be well rested. And I would have no bad habits.
Russ was kind enough to show me some skipping techniques. He even let some of us use the rocks he’d collected.
It was a light-hearted day, not only because of Russ’s fun personality. It was also because the day was filled with electricity. It was the first year that there would be national media–ESPN and CBS news’ Bill Geist.
The announcer during the contest was very funny. He said that they may add an ESPN channel devoted solely to stone-skipping. It would be called ESPN 20, “Right between ESPN 19, the all-fishing channel, and ESPN 21, watching paint dry.”
It was a very no-pressure type of competition. For me, anyway, because I only skipped at best a five. The no-pressure atmosphere is what contributed to the fun.
Today I talked to two people who were also at the event. We had a connection because of the fun that was generated that day. We had a nice reminder of how funny everything was that day. And as we re-tell our experiences, more people can join in on the lightness.
Similar to Groundhog Day, the Stone Skipping tournament let us tap into our own, innate lightness. It is always there. There just aren’t that many Stone-Skipping events that highlight or require it. So–why not find, create, or promote your OWN event. And while you’re at it, you’ll “Get Your SHINE Together!”
