Surfing… A constant journey. The never ending ride of searching, learning, charging, humbling, waiting, and letting go. The ocean will always be my greatest teacher, constantly reminding me of the power that lies in patience, presence, and trust. Her waves both inspired me and humble me, only to emphasize the essential need of dropping my ego and moving more from my soul.
I recently acquired my dad’s old single fin, a 6’10” Natural Art shaped by Greg Loehr sometime in the 70s. In the last year or so, I’ve gotten into riding boards other than the “standard shortboard” of today, and I’ve found that I really love the feeling of learning something new: drawing different lines and deepening my understanding of the ocean and her waves. In this learning, I realized I that I had to shift my focus from the urge to rip the waves to pieces (do what I wanted to do) to flowing with the waves and working with what SHE wants to do (removing my agenda and setting the ego aside). A humbling experience to say the least, and I still have a long way to go…
But I guess what I’m getting at here is, that just like in life, there is no “finish line” when it comes to surfing. The magic lies in the process, the beauty is found within the journey, and the excitement comes because of the unknowns. We can always learn more, go for bigger waves, position ourselves deeper in the lineup, and give ourselves permission to try something new. Every session we can learn. Each new swell holds the possibility of getting the best waves of our life. And once we get that best wave, the bar just gets set a little higher. And then we get excited and inspired all over again. How much higher can we go?! The more sessions that I surf, the more years that go by, it all just reiterates the parallel between riding waves and navigating through life. And I’m so grateful for it all!
