Snowboarding as an occupation

2024/06/13

I wrote about how long my friend Ken has been involved in snowboarding

and how proud he is to be able to engage in improvisational "sessions"

with his snowboarding colleagues.

He is in his middle thirties.

Snowboarding is one of his most important occupations.

He recently married and is happy, but he worries about how to balance

his family life and his snowboarding.

Today I will share with you a perspective of snowboarding as

an occupation from these angles:

              the form of snowboarding as an occupation,

        the function of the occupation,

and the meaning of the occupation.

To look at snowboarding in a big occupational picture, let’s imagine Ken

engaging in snowboarding. 

Snowboarding as an occupation

Situations:

Ken started to go snowboarding with his coworkers 14 years ago.

After the pandemic, none of his coworkers resumed snowboarding.

He decided to continue snowboarding by himself.

Form of the occupation:

Ken goes on a one or two day snowboarding trip 15 times a year.

The more he has improved in skills, the more involved he became in it.

His favorite way of snowboarding is sliding slopes passing over obstacles.

It’s quite thrilling.

He also feels like he is in a roller coaster ride while sliding down

a slope rapidly.

On the other hand, he enjoys interacting with enthusiastic snowboarders

who he runs into in at the snow resorts.

The snowboarders exchange necessary information, proudly let the others

use their own goods, teach each other new skills and admire each other.

They respect each other and share snowboarding skills and interests.

Ken married recently. He decided to prioritize family life. He realizes that

time, funding and focus limitations mean he can’t engage in snowboarding as enthusiastically as he has before.

That is Ken’s environmental challenge now that he is a middle-aged man.

Function of the occupation: 

Ken is involved in snowboarding in these ways:

While sliding on a snowy slope, he focuses only on his sliding, he doesn’t

think about anything,

Ken’s gradually improved his skill increased his involvement in the sport,

his satisfaction with that involvement and his sense of accomplishment.

With these accomplishments, he established an identity as a snowboarder

and was confident in himself.

Being involved in snowboarding far away from his daily life, revitalizes him.

He was happy that he was able to reduce the stress he got from

his everyday life.

On the other hand, snowboarding is a risky sport.

Ken likes the thrill of snowboarding as well as sliding over obstacles.

They call one snowboarding gathering a “session.”

Through improvising with another snowboarder in a session,

they collaborated to improve their skills and enjoy snowboarding more fully.

It’s a beneficial, comfortable and exciting community for Ken to participate in.

Thanks to the community, he established his identity as a snowboarder

and has continued to enjoy his snowboarding over many years. 

Ken is attracted to the community of snowboarders.

He can’t imagine quitting snowboarding. 

Meaning of the occupation:

Snowboarding is one of Ken’s most important occupations.

It satisfied him, supported his establishment of his self-identity and

decreased stress from his daily life.

On the other hand, snowboarding occupies a lot of his time

and is a risky sport.

Ken lived independently for years but he recently married.

He has stepped into a new stage in his life.

He has decided to prioritize family life but he doesn’t know

how to balance his family life and his hobby.

He knows male sports enthusiasts who find it difficult to balance

their family life and their hobby.

Ken wonders how he can continue snowboarding.

In his new stage, he is required to establish a new occupational balance

to adapt to his environmental challenge and to promote

health and wellbeing.

He needs to make a good balance between his hobby and

his life as a family man.

If you were Ken, what would you do next?

If you were Ken, what would you do to punch your environmental

challenge?

How might it possible to adapt to meet this challenge

in occupational life?

Let’s think.

What you would do if you were Ken?