Skip on Spokane!

We recently caught up with Spokane skipper Patty Sanders after she gave this excellent talk about skipping at Ignite Spokane…and we asked her about the inspiration behind it. Here’s what she had to say…

When did you start skipping as an adult? When my kids were little and we would skip together and I realized how happy it made all of us.

What do you love most about skipping? What I love about skipping is that you can not be anything but HAPPY when you are doing it. It is real live fairy dust. Skipping produces happy thoughts and gives you the thrill of flying.

Do you skip for fitness or for fun? Skip for fun!!! If you skip FOR fitness then you have expectations and then you set yourself up to being let down if the expectations aren’t met to your satisfaction and then you will quit skipping. You skip for FUN you will never stop skipping and you will become fit.

What inspired you to create the skipping talk you gave at Ignite? I wanted to do something FUN and different. Since it isn’t an every day occurrence that you see skippers I figured there wouldn’t be a lot of us competing for that subject matter…and skipping is the most fun you can have…Just thinking about it makes you happy.

My Passion is HAPPY…my motto in life has been “when the fun runs out run with it” but I might have to revise it to “when the fun skips town skip with it”. The reaction to it was wonderful. I was happy to hear how receptive everyone was to it. Many people said they are skippers already.

What would you say to someone who is hesitant/too embarrassed to skip in public? To the hesitant and embarrassed skipper I tell them GRAB a kid and skip with them. I also remind them how happy it makes them to see other people skip…you are doing that for people when you skip…it literally is the greatest public service you can do for your community. It just makes everyone happier!!!

Grandmothers Skip

I have six grandchildren (one more arriving next week and one more due in March for a total of eight) and we love to skip together. I have loved skipping since I was a little girl and I have never been able to restrain myself when an open stretch of sidewalk or path beckons me. It is a true delight to have my grandchildren skip with me. I celebrate you and will think of you whenever I skip. –Marelu Marson, Center for Spiritual Living, Seattle,WA

Tax Day Skip in Seattle

In April 2000, the head skipper in Seattle got some nice press coverage for a Tax Day Skip she organized in Seattle, WA. This article ran in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer covered the event. Congrats, Emily!! Here is her report on how the skip went:

Less people than I had expected ended up coming, but what we lacked in numbers, we made up in fun. Alki seemed a bit quiet for a beautiful Saturday. Maybe the stock market thing has got people down. Wish they knew how much they need to skip. Our small parade of four skipped for over an hour. We had a couple of joiners mid-skip. Channel 13 was there shooting film. We made the ten o’clock news!!! The attendees were very enthusiastic and full of great ideas on how to promote ourselves and our happy movement mission. The weather was fantastic. The first group skip was like a dream come true for me. I know that sounds silly, but… I just thought it was a real hoot. A cute boy told me he thought skipping was “Brilliant!” Little kids looked at us in wonder. So did old people. Ok, everybody thought we were a little crazy. Hooray! I called out to people to join in. I would never do that alone. I skipped farther than I would have alone. When we finished, my body ached. Thank you to Tatia, Melinda and Sherry for coming out. It was great fun.

We later heard from Emily that while she was hanging out flyers at a happy hour the night before her skip, one of the guys she told about the skip ended coming to the skip. And, are you ready for this? They are now married!

Emily skipped before the ceremony to get rid of the jitters and to celebrate her good fortune. Some wedding guests were also spotted skipping. Here’s to a lifetime of skipping happily ever after!