Just a comment. A famous comedian once talked about the pressure to perform when out in public. Where random strangers would come up and stare at you expecting you to be well, funny. Thing is, sometimes even clowns just don’t feel all that funny.

As our sport has come out of the shadows and become a bit more media driven a number of paddlers have come to be well known. That’s all well and good, but it also has some downfalls. Usually you get one side of the message when you hear paddlers complain that sea kayaking shouldn’t have “stars”. It’s a nice argument but it does not take reality into account. Most people are inspired by others and interested in the lives and stories of others that travel the roads they also like or would like to travel. We’re a social species. Otherwise our silly blogs would go un-read as well. So for good or bad we may as well accept it.

The problem is that this little bit of human nature is sometimes taken full advantage of which can leave folks with a bad taste in their mouth. Yet, what’s nice and pretty unique in our sport is that the “big names” are not so big that they don’t hang out among the rest of us like in most other sports. In fact, in sea kayaking you can still go to a symposium and hang out with the folks you read about in the magazines. There are no body guards or million dollar contracts. In fact it’s often the case that average guy is probably making a lot more money than our “stars”. There still is a certain humility to sea kayaking! Thankfully! What’s more, we tend to B**ch slap those who get their noses to high in the air. We want to share in the stories, but we are often repulsed if asked to “bask in their glow”.

What makes that part of our sport work well is that our “stars” in fact are usually (I did say “Usually”) not ego-driven media hounds either. If I had to guess, that’s probably because sea kayaking tends to attract the more loner types. I mean, if you enjoy spending months paddling alone in a place where there are no telephones, and no showers, you are probably not too much of a Prima Donna.

So when I read a comment recently about a well, “famous” kayaker (for lack of a better word) that sort of implied they were not all they were cut out to be, that they didn’t really “perform”. I was thinking about how some folks just don’t feel comfortable in performing. Yeah some paddlers do have a bit of the performer in them and do enjoy the audience. Others became well known as expedition paddlers, or writers or whatever but are not so much “entertainers”. There is a difference.

I remember a time when I was younger that I hated being “watched”. Back then it was debilitating. Yet, I knew I had to do something about it. The first step was to try out for a play. I thought the try out would be nightmare enough, but the fact that I was cast in a bigger roll was all that much more terrifying. It went well, and in the end I did a lot more theater over the next couple years. The thing was, I loved theatre; the rehearsals, the performances, all that stuff. What I hated was the public parties and gatherings after the shows. I didn’t know how to respond to people who were well, “fans” (yeah I do hate that word too). I blathered and blundered through thank yous and stuttered through conversations with really well meaning folks that I just didn’t know well enough to be comfortable. My problem, not theirs.

Later I worked as a bartender. Again it was fun and I had a great rapport with the regulars. Of course we usually had nothing in common and they had an image of me that came through the bottom of a lost number of beer glasses. Behind the bar as like on the stage, the wall of separation allowed the class clown to come out. A total turnaround from the high school days when I was just trying to avoid being pummeled bloody by bullies on a daily basis. Still it was theatre, not the real me. . but a character actor pouring libations and telling jokes. Shallow entertainment.

In the new media world of paddling we have lots of these same walls. Video, magazines & blogs are all protected harbors for paddlers. Places where we find a comfort zone to express that we don’t always find in open water as it were. Writing each day I can talk about all sorts of stuff that I feel free to talk about and yet would stutter over sitting at a table with others. So there is a spot where I can relate to the paddler who didn’t “perform”. Expedition paddlers become well known for their accomplishments but they are not trying to be Madonna. (Well, most aren’t anyway). Writers are of course expressive but expressive does not always translate into “performance”. In fact I think it could be agreed that paddling is an ideal sport of the recluse in all of us. Paddling lets us decide when we want to be social or go off alone for bit.

So sometimes it’s probably worth noting that when a well known paddler shows up at an event or group paddle they may not always be what we expect. And certainly some folks can have expectations. They want to see you do your rolls or jump in a big wave or whatever. Show off. Strut a bit. People like to see with their own eyes if you are “all that”. Even when you know you’re NOT all that! It’s human nature. But keep in mind that it’s also human nature for some folks to not feel comfortable under the looking glass. They may just hang back and take it easy, they may pass on the crazy wave and watch others for awhile. In fact it probably says something nice about our sport that so many well known paddlers would just as soon pass up the chance to take the stage and rather hang back and let you show off for awhile.

* Image from the cover of Steve Martin’s “Born Standing Up”.

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