You know the kind of surf I’m talking about, right?

Well, I had forgotten just how wonderful that get-home-and-stand-in-the-kitchen-in-my-swimmers-gushing-to-mum-and-then-collapsing-into-the-shower-after-a-perfect-surf feeling is!! It’s heaven.

And there was dinner waiting for my tired, happy body after that shower too, by the way.

Per-fec-tion.

The other week I was driving into town from the highway when I looked up and saw this cloud that looked disarmingly like a dolphin jumping out of the ocean. Now, I’m notoriously suspicious of dolphins (I find all that “smiling” is slightly creepy and I can’t forgive how much they can look like sharks) but I was compelled to stop and record it.

Ok, so I was a moment too late to get it in all its jumping perfection, but you can see what I mean. And that afternoon when I went surfing, the water was slightly murky after all the rain. Not gross, just not clear. I was paddling back out after a wave, when two dolphins jumped out of the water, side by side. They leapt out of the face of the wave and crashed into the water in front of me, speeding under my board and away. It was a very dolphin day that one.

In Noosa there was a dolphin under my board as well. It popped up next to me and then swam away. I didn’t see it again.

I know these experiences are cool, and I do honestly feel lucky that I get to be in the water so close to them. Sometimes I feel guilty though, because I know other folk would get more out of it than me. I just don’t go much for the anthropomorphism nor the spirituality that people attribute to them, so that stuff is wasted on me.

Should I be worried??? Have I lost something magical? Lost the urge or drive to surf?

I had to find out, since this may inevitably signal a fate far worse than moving to the frozen wastelands of the NorthWest Territories. I watched surf movies, I sniffed surf wax, I listened to Jack Johnson and Donavon Frankenreiter … I even played Kelly Slater’s Surfing video game … all to no positive yield towards the surf and the ocean. Did I get sick of surfing after only 10 years of intermittent sessions?

Did I overdose on surfing after that great series of swells that hit the south shores of Oahu as of late? I don’t have an answer yet, but I was starting to get concerned … even panicky that the one thing that passionately drove me on a daily basis may be slipping away, or worse … has slipped away! There was nothing in particular holding me back from being able to surf: not a demanding job, not a nagging spouse, not the pressures of school and studies, not even a physical condition that prevents me from paddling out.

In fact, I have a truly flexible new career, a more than supportive and equally enthused-about-surfing spouse, a couple of degrees completed and stored in my back pocket, and I am in physical condition that could rival my 20 year old self from so long ago. So what is it? I realized that surfing had become a routine for me – part of the things I perform on a daily basis without much thought. And as incredibly lucky as I am for having such a great privilege allowed to me at this stage in my life, I realized that I needed to step away from surfing, at least momentarily, in order to gain the appreciation that I once held for it. I just needed a break … to recompose and re-approach surfing. Get my bearings on what surfing means to me once more.

Although I am still in the process of this discovery, I did realize one important thing about surfing and myself: I love longboards, and the style and lines associated with the classic style of longboarding. After experimenting with a variety of board styles and board sizes, I have returned to the drop-knee style of surfing … the long drawn lines … and noseriding. Don’t get me wrong, I like shortboarding for training purposes, and for larger pitchier waves … it teaches me to ride anything and everything on a constant basis. But for my money, I prefer my classic 9’2″ … arched back, and hands clasped together behind me on a long clean wave.

I also realized that I need to moderate my surfing. I need to ensure that I still appreciate the beauty and freedom of surfing by not allowing me to get too complacent with the freedoms I have to surf on any given day. As I review this aspect of my life, I have become very aware of the special things I experience on a daily basis, and have begun to hold them with a much deeper sense of appreciation.

…

There are moments that leave permanent imprints on your mind that are so vivid, so etched for eternity that you can literally close your eyes and  you can picture every detail and be back there anytime you want to get there (just few to share):

• The dark haired surfer girl smiling back at you as you come down the face of a wave with an ear to ear smile
• Your new found friend smiling from the beach at the fact that you just caught the ride of your life
• That first time I stood up on the board
• The most awesome wave of the day where I paddled back out to my friends only to learn that my board shorts had a giant rip down the back side (I thought they were smiling because it was such an awesome wave
• That long perfect ride where the water  was warm and it the waves seemed to just peel on forever

Certain days and certain waves are just special. These are just a few of the hundreds I have.  Like I said before they have a permanent imprint that you can’t ever forget. Forgetting these moments would be tragic.

Mother Nature’s Dance

Consider the waves your song and the ocean the girl you dance with. You find yourself constantly telling her one more dance, one more song. “One more good ride and I’ll get out.” Yet, for many, 20, 40, 50 years later that mantra are are the words surfers seem to live by. In certain moments, mother nature teases you. Right when you plan on getting out, a perfect set rolls in and you realize you can’t possibly leave in that moment. After all, those waves are way better than the one you just caught.  It’d be like walking away from a blackjack table on a hot streak. So you paddle back out, and the music stops. The dance stops and she has her laugh.  “Sure I’ll dance with you, just wait.” And you do, because that’s how much you’ve fallen for her.  The truth is you really never can get enough. It’s just that good.

On the drive home, everything seems to have a deeper meaning. Your awareness elevates and you realize that the The Cure is singing about orgasms in the first few lines of Just Like Heaven and the calm, the smile, and everything else together puts you in a state of ecstasy.   With that I’ve barely touched what it feels like to be stoked.

In surfing, and in life, while I wait for the next “ride”, am I calm and patient, or restless and irritated? When that wave does come, am I focused, centered and present, or am I scattered and living in another moment? Do I take the first wave that comes my way, or do I take my chances that the next one will give me a superior ride? When I do decide which wave I’m going to take, that first drop or step is crucial, it will determine how the rest of the wave will go. It requires confidence, commitment, and above all, the will to make it.

Sometimes the ocean gives you the most amazing rush, and other times it serves you up a beating that makes you think you might not live to see the next breath. And no wave lasts forever, whether it’s a fun ride or not, like everything else, it too will come to an end.

If you think about what a wave is, energy that has been traveling for thousands of miles, and that journey across the ocean ends when it hits land and forms a wave. If your in the center of that wave, in the barrel, in a cylinder of energy that has been building up until that moment, it’s a mind-blowing experience!

So let’s got for a surf, and see where our head is at for the day, week, month, year, life…

My life in Brisbane and the commitments I have here mean that I lack the resources to surf – namely time and money. The hours and costs involved in driving to and from the coast limit my opportunities, and the work I moved here to do has also taken up much more of the time and energy I have available for other things.

Sometimes, I get really bummed about it. Especially when, like this past weekend, there is decent swell. At these times I get texts and calls and invitations from home,

Come home! There’s swell! Why aren’t you coming down?

Or much worse (and meaner) is,

Haha! Did you see how much swell there is? And you’re missing it! Haha!

One friend put it like this,

You are writing about surfers and this is what surfers do. You go when the waves tell you, not when your schedule allows. Nowthat’s a blog topic for you, haha.

My friend is right, and I know that and feel terrible about it, but I still find it hard to explain to friends, crew and loved ones why I’m not there, and why I can’t find the resources to get there, let alone reconciling all of that for myself!

But it has made me think about the ways that surfing is available and accessible to different people, and the ways they negotiate and get through that. If I had the resources, I would love to explore the area around here more and learn what it’s like to surf from Brisbane. But to do that involves a combination of a car, petrol, ferries, food, accommodation etc etc. The bottom line is that I don’t live next to the beach anymore, so I can’t afford the time and money to go for a surf whenever I would like. Even when there is swell.

I think it’s a good lesson for me though – about the realities of access, costs and time – and in a funny way, it makes it even more precious. When I get to the coast I always enjoy myself – whether the waves are lovely or small or massive or blown out or busy or cold or few and far between. None of that bothers me anymore. I go surfing when and how I can, and I am always stoked for that.

You never know what Mother Nature

The joy of surfing is that I am my own coach and student at the same time. It’s not the destination, it’s the journey … If you fall, it’s just water … If you aren’t falling, you aren’t learning. These simple rules sit in the forefront of  every surf session like a code, a mantra. They remind me to remain light-hearted and self-aware during every surf session. Surfing can be unique, spiritual, educational, and always a classroom in session from Mother Ocean.

I push myself to try new things or motivate myself to grow. When my surfer’s motivation starts to wane, I regain direction by creating a surf plan that contains two positive actions. The first one is a small task or surf move that I have been meaning to try or work on, and the second is a resulting long-term goal. I immediately do the smaller task … like taking an extra step towards the nose, or focusing on the positioning of my feet as I carve a turn. This creates positive momentum. After that I take the first step towards achieving the long-term goal … in this example it would be hanging ten (toes on the nose!) or whipping a wicked backside!  Doing this periodically is great for getting out of a slump, creating positive reinforcement, and getting long-term plans moving.

I get that some of us like a slow and steady day, but this isn’t about type a and type b personalities … it’s about surfing and creating a more enjoyable session as inspired by Ali Hale’s article.

Get Up Earlier : This particular one is a personal favorite since I surf dawn patrol most of the time … where the line ups are less crowded, more friendly, and enjoyable. Just when the crowds (especially over the weekends) are pulling in at the parking stalls, I have already logged two to three hours of water time. As a bonus, I get to watch the sun rise as I am stretching on the beach. Even better, if you’re out early enough, you have a 30 minute window where you’re the only one in the water and the line up … empty waves!

Create a Plan : I get the most grief over this one, often being accused of being ‘type a’ … but it’s about prepping everything the night before so that I don’t have to rush around early in the morning when I am getting up early to surf. I already checked the board for dings and damage, rewaxed the board if it needed wax (so I don’t have to beg for wax at the lineup), packed my gear and towel – fin key, leash, sun block, plus snacks and water – AND placed everything near the front door so I don’t have to go looking for it in the morning. This is especially helpful if you have to go to school or work directly after surfing!

Batch Tasks Together : Constantly jumping from one task to another often causes confusion and chaos at work, and although you may feel ‘buzzed’ by all the activity, you often don’t get much done. What can you batch together while surfing? The ‘planning’ part helps here … I can get up early, go for a 30 minute run or a quick yoga session, stretch, surf like a king, and stop by the supermarket for milk and eggs … you get the gist!

Block Out Chunks of Time :  This is where most weekend surfers fail … and newbie surfer succeed. You MUST take the time to go and surf. Yes, we all have chores, homework, to-do lists, and jobs … but you have to block out a chunk of time of your day to go and enjoy the surf. Your body will thank you for it, your family and friends will love you more for not being so grouchy or tense!

Don’t Multitask : You know this one! You sacrifice one task at the cost of another … and although you may think you are doing 2 things at once, you are actually doing two things at 50% efficiency and concentration. With that in mind, once you paddle out into the water (hopefully even as you wake up and get into the routine of going to surf) LEAVE everything behind. The shoreline becomes an invisible barrier for all things not surf-related. Surfing is all about surf … it needs your full focus and attention at the present moment … once you lose focus, you ruin your session and end up not getting either your surfing or whatever was occupying your mind completed with any satisfaction.

Stay Focused : I don’t even have to say much on this … just BE IN THE MOMENT!

Finish Work On Time : That’s right … if you say surf for an hour, you are done in an hour … so don’t cheat yourself by not doing any of the items that came before this one. All the tasks and advice above are the things that contribute to being able to enjoy a session fully, without having to feel rushed or cheated!

“How does a dedicated surfer balance love, responsibility, and relationships with a surf lifestyle?”

It’s the great risk which comes with any great passion: that one day, your passion will ask too much of you, will be placed into conflict with the soul. (The real actual human soul, that is, not its lame surf-market version.)

Love is a beautiful thing, for instance, but as a guide to how to live, it’s somewhat unreliable. Incredibly cruel, selfish [things] are done every day in its name. The same goes for surfing. You’ll chase your tail all your life and in the end the next wave is all that’ll matter.

But what happens when you catch your last wave? And who will you have abandoned in order to do it? How will you answer when it asks too much?

We doubt very much that any formula exists for dealing with this crisis. We’re all complex human beings; the paths we choose will never be quite the same as anyone else’s, nor will they look the same from the outside as from within.

But we would suggest that the process of learning to surf — or perhaps more importantly, learning to be a surfer — may hold some great metaphorical lessons.

Look at the idea of “balance“. What a primal surfing skill that is. The good surfer does little else, in fact. Riding a wave in balance is a constant process of anticipating the changes ahead and adjusting to them. A good surfer does this well because he or she has learned, usually after some painful trial and error, to understand the nature of waves and love them for their aspects both good and bad, and ride each section as it comes. Perhaps human relationships are not entirely dissimilar.

Surfing selfishness has a bad track record, by the way. It invariably disappoints, and you’ll see that disappointment etched on the faces of more than a few grumpy old-guy locals on the coastlines of our little world.

Few of us are suited to a life spent in pursuit of personal pleasure at the expense of all else. In fact, it’s possible that the psychological arc of the surfing life is only completed if and when the surfer chooses to share his or her learning with others.

We suspect this is part of the motive force behind so many of the surf schools around the world at the moment. Isn’t it fascinating how many of these schools are led by well-known former professional surfers? We have often noticed in conversations with these surfers that they have a calmness, a completeness about them that was rarely apparent back in their professional days. Very few of them are getting rich through their schools, but they’re happy in a way surf contests were never able to manage for them. In essence, they’ve resolved the conflict through acting in the service of others — through sharing.

What’s good for you? You’re the only one who can answer that. In any case, we suggest keep asking the question! Just by doing that — and by enlisting those closest to you in the effort to find out — you’re on the right track to your own calm place.

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[by Nick Carrol via Surfline]