Stacy Peralta

Stacy Peralta Instagram – Jay Adams revisited…Jay was a supremely gifted athlete, highly creative, wildly spontaneous and a joy to watch because you never knew what was coming…He was that rare kid bestowed with a gift as bright as the sun and I believe Jay may have been aware of his gift but he lacked the skill set required to focus it. He was completely deficient in that department. Gifts come with enormous power and enormous responsibility and that power is dangerous because it can turn against you if you’re not prepared for it. It takes years to recognize a gift, to become familiar with it, to develop it and then to learn to live with it peacefully – and gifts don’t come with mentors or manuals, they come with force. Jay’s gift was dropped on him like an anvil at age 12, how does a kid that age know anything about anything? He had no idea how to turn his gift into a functional and sustainable career. For a current example look no further than basketball star Ja Morant for someone who’s struggling to come to terms with his enormous gift. It ain’t easy. And remember we were the first pro skaters in the world, we had no role models, we had to figure this out on our own while it was all unfolding…Alva ran at a similar voltage to Jay and initially created some big problems; he was temporarily banned from Skateboarder Mag and then got close to losing an eye in a fight, but ultimately Tony figured out how to channel his enormous gift with its massive payload into a remarkable career. For me, I didn’t want to burn so bright, too dangerous, I wanted to burn long…None of this excuses Jay for the act that got him thrown in the pen but it does provide some context to the chaos, because Jay did light up the hearts of skaters across the planet with the power and brightness of his gift, but the very power and brightness of that gift cost Jay his own career and the quality of his own life. | Posted on 12/Jun/2023 21:08:22