Well, I'd be lying if I said TikTok wasn't responsible. I like many people have struggled to follow the one form of exercise a day rule. Animal Crossing, doodling and playing ukulele have consumed my life. After several hours of watching YouTube videos and TikTok videos, I bought a pair of roller skates, protection, and decided I was going to actually do something.

Today was day 2, and I've never been so happy just to move forward. Day 1 (yesterday) was very shaky. I tried skating down a trail in a local woods that I thought was pretty flat, but I thought wrong. I was also made fun of for being such a newbie, which honestly made me mentally tap out. Moral of day 1, don't criticise people that are clearly struggling, because that is nor helpful or kind. So today, I practised in my front garden while blasting my favourite tunes, it definitely helped my confidence. I'm a lot smoother skating forwards, stopping, and I can turn a bit too. So, if you're reading this, here are some of my tips for your first day skating.



1. Wear protection. You can sometimes buy your helmets and pads all in one bundle, if you're fussy about budget and them matching. You're going to fall when you're learning, and an injury isn't going to help morale. Also if you're as nervous as I am, wearing protection helps with nerves. Try just falling over on purpose if your nervous, because why not!

2. Watch YouTube Videos. There are plenty of channels on YouTube dedicated to beginners rollerskating, I would personally recommend Queer Girl Straight Skates and Dirty School of Skate.

3. If possible, go with a friend. Quarantine obviously doesn't make this step easy, but if you know someone else who skates, then you can meet up from a distance to roller skate together! An advantage of quarantine is that basketball courts aren't as busy as usual because large groups can't get together, so its a perfect place to go with lots of flat space. Having a hype buddy is also very useful.

I will keep you posted if anything else happens rollerskating wise, but the plan is to practice every day, even if its just for a bit. 

I will again be ended this post with a resource, this time a Glossary of Terms from the Stonewall website. This is the absolute beginner place to start in terms of LGBTQIA+ education, and I hope someone reads this and goes "oh that's what that means!" Feel free to scroll through the rest of Stonewall's website, they are a UK based charity that campaigns for the equality of lesbian, gay, bi and trans people across Britain.

Thanks for your reading, love yourself and eat your breakfast :) x

Chloe