Poseur

On the first day of my Cultural Exploration and Communication class, Professor Kelly O'Keefe gave us the following definition:

Poseur:
A person who attempts to impress others by assuming or affecting a manner, degree of elegance, sentiment, etc., other than his or her true one.

As my school work takes me farther and farther from the cultures that I know personally, I think about that word more and more. One of the projects I am working on this semester is a deep dive into the Extreme Sports and Action Sports culture. Because of this project, I have spent a lot of time this semester watching surf and skate videos, reading blogs by committed action sport athletes, and visiting local spots such as Glass and Powder sport store and the Laurel Skate Park.

I am the antithesis of an action sports participant. I would love to do what the men and women I have met through this project do. I would love to feel that free, that dedicated and that daring. But truthfully, my daring doesn't show itself in a physical / sport-related way. I will never be a great skateboarder, let alone do a double back flip off of a bmx bike.

Whenever I walk into Glass and Powder, I feel out of place. The people are nice, the store has a great vibe and I would love to own some of the t-shirts that they sell. But in the back of my head, I know that I am not one of them. The things that are obvious to these athletes are my "probing" questions.

I want them to feel comfortable with me and I want to understand their culture so well that I could pass for one of them. And so, in the end, I guess I am a poseur. But I love it. It broadens my world.