Friends that surf together, stick together. Photo Courtesy of Lindsey Montague
I write blogs on how surfing and life correlate with each other. More specifically, I write about my own journey on what I’ve learned on land and water while trying to document each minute to reach 10,000 hours of surfing. Sometimes our thoughts, fears, and/or confidence on land can translate over on water or vice versa. I take one small topic and analyze the shit out of it in hopes to either inspire, make you laugh, or give you something to read when you should be working.
My first surf sesh was on June 3, 2011. I started out the first year of surfing with two friends making Sunday trips to Ventura. While living in Hollywood, a new surfer friend introduced me to my new home,Venice Beach, and I started going in the mornings before work. Dawn patrol became a must for me at least 3-4 days on weekdays.
Goodbye Moon Photo Courtesy of Jenny Stinson
Saying goodnight to the moon to greet the first hint of sun was something that helped me start the day off right. At first I was timid to go by myself, but after a couple times, I preferred it. I wanted to go out by myself because I was on no one else’s timetable and could go at my own pace.
When I moved to Venice in July of 2012, I started surfing consistently with my awesome neighbor Chels. Next thing I noticed, I wouldn’t go without her. For some reason, it seemed more fun with another person and it was great having someone on the same amateur level to share the experience with. We supported and learned from each other.
Then time after time whether she was out of town or was coming home late from work when I got home early, I couldn’t motivate myself to get out on the water unless she was going.
I have reached a co-dependent stage in my surfing journey. I’m not saying having a surfing buddy is a horrible idea. I’m not saying that at all. I enjoyed having a surfing buddy so much that I started making it the only excuse to surf. I stopped going in the mornings because she couldn’t. I’m half a block from the water and still could not find the motivation to go out by myself. I just find myself asking “Whoah, how did I get here?
Now to May 2013. I didn’t surf all Memorial Day weekend as I was up to my ears with places to go and whiskey gingers to drink. After the amazing weekend with friends, I started to feel a little funky and was in a weird headspace. With all the bouncing around and exerting energy all over the place, I was drained. When I get drained, I get all up in my head. I knew what I needed—to replenish myself with a good surf. The ocean is where I find my center and get back to the place I call “my truth.” Surfing erases all the chatter in my head and helps me live in the present and from a place that is truly me with no insecurities or fear. I knew I would be back to normal once I got in the water.
My body woke up at 4 a.m. the Wednesday after Memorial Day begging for me to surf. If I didn’t go this morning I was sure I was going to have a nervous breakdown that day. I laid there wondering if anyone would be down to come along, but I knew Chels wouldn’t want to. 5:30 a.m. rolled around, I was still awake so I made my coffee and stretched. I suited up, broke my cycle of excuses, and walked my ass out to the water. Enough is enough, I needed to surf.
As time passed in the water, I became nostalgic of the dawn patrol missions of 2011. Cotton candy colors started covering the glassy water and open sky. There’s a calm the morning can only offer compared to the growing winds of the day. I can feel the world starting to wake up as my mind starts to find it’s center. There I am, in all of mother ocean’s glory, bobbing up and down on my board and a sense of peace washes over me. I feel the edges of my lips lift up and I smile a smile that comes from deep within. In that morning session I remembered why I used to do it for myself.
This is where I call myself out and, as I’m writing this, come to a realization.
Surfing is a choice, everything else is an excuse. In surf and life, we need to make choices and take action on the things that lead us to the happiness and balance we need. We go against ourselves when we choose the opposite. Where else besides the water have I been allowing myself to slip by going along someone else’s journey instead of choosing my own? The moment we let other things become the reason we don’t allow our ultimate freedom of choice to come through, we hold the best part of ourselves back. Here’s the groovy part, if you find yourself off your own path, you can always make the choice to get back on. How we are with the water can reflect how we are on land. What does your surfing telling you?
It feels good to be surfing for myself again.
