Favorite things

[zach619]

Yeah, surfing is crazy in the way it unfolds. Its the strangest thing after you get one of the best rides of your life... its like it "just happened" and you are trying to piece together the memory of the last 30 seconds so you can savor it, but its like you are just reacting the whole time... So on my way back out to the lineup, I have had times where I am grinning from ear to ear, laughing outloud just completely stoked... but the memory of those moments already starts slipping away... Its like you almost have to remind yourself of how awesome that was because you are already focused on more waves... Sometimes you just have to paddle back out, sit in the lineup and soak in the moments that just unfolded... Like, wow, I was deep in that barrel and I made it out... Or man, I just landed that air... Whatever the case may be... those are the moments I love... just sitting on your board, after you have done something amazing... Then I really drink in the beauty of what we are doing... The shoreline looks better, the sky looks clearer... that is my zen moment.... You just feel so happy that you have dedicated your life to this stuff to live out moments that are over in 15 seconds..... And it makes it all worth it...

The simplest way I put it to people, is that I have had thousands of surf sessions, and EVERY time i have ever gotten out of the water, I feel like I am better off.... No matter how crappy the surf was, or if you blow a few waves or whatever, I have never once regretted being out there.... When you get out of the ocean, you are ALWAYS better off then when you entered... and as long as that holds true, we will always be back...

[whosthat]

I love when the sun makes everything glow, including the water...
I love that "oh Sh*t" moment when you dont know if you're gonna make it out past the set wave....
I love making the section connection that extends the wave length...
I love coming over the dune in anticipation when you hear the ocean first.....
I love it when I'm out at dinner with non-surfers after a great session, my head tilts down, and my sinuses spill out all over the table....(the look on their faces is priceless)
I love shopping for a new surfboard.....
these are a few of my favorite things.....

[spongedude]

i agree that one cannot explain this to anyone who hasn't done it. they have no context for the experience. there are elements of this that are too entirely personal. you are out with friends or in a lineup of strangers, but you are all alone once you strike for that oncoming swell. your own abilities, skills and habits, good and bad, are pitted against the anomalies of that particular break, that particular condition, that particular wave, which no one else will experience, even if they are on the same wave. it is why the wide variety of contrasting personalities and beliefs and philosophies exemplified on this forum all end up in the lineup.....the wave serves each differently, and rewards/punishes each to their own context, to the extent that it is, in essence, indescribable. all one can do is give them a general taste, an essence, a ghost of this, but eventually, they will have to experience their own experience for themselves.

[ripturbo]

getting barreled,and girls duckdiving of course

[Sniffer]

i agree that one cannot explain this to anyone who hasn't done it. they have no context for the experience. there are elements of this that are too entirely personal. you are out with friends or in a lineup of strangers, but you are all alone once you strike for that oncoming swell. your own abilities, skills and habits, good and bad, are pitted against the anomalies of that particular break, that particular condition, that particular wave, which no one else will experience, even if they are on the same wave. it is why the wide variety of contrasting personalities and beliefs and philosophies exemplified on this forum all end up in the lineup.....the wave serves each differently, and rewards/punishes each to their own context, to the extent that it is, in essence, indescribable. all one can do is give them a general taste, an essence, a ghost of this, but eventually, they will have to experience their own experience for themselves.

Wow! Maybe I should move to Cali....I just read your post to my wife and she is putty in my hands....thanks sponge!

[spongedude]

Wow! Maybe I should move to Cali....I just read your post to my wife and she is putty in my hands....thanks sponge!

anything to help a brother....

[Alvin]

Great post! Yes for me catching that tube and being inside her..time stands still. Mother oceans womb if you will. The whole vibe of getting out there and part of a great energy and bringing that stoke back to your friends or students or coworkers. Sleeping incredibly well after a good long session. Stronger libido. drinking the fountain of youth. Hanging with my surf friends and catching lots of waves and doing lots of maneuvers and not even remebering wht you just did. Helping a new surf student catch her first wave and then improving and screaming with delight. Its such a zen thing. I think I could go on but we all understand the importance of surfing and being a surfer.

[Koki Barrels]

I look at it like an addiction; the feeling I get from getting a good ride is like no other feeling I have ever felt, the stoke, better than any acid, shrooms i ever took...and during flat spells I fiend for it like I was an addict without my juice. of course, I am not a drug addict, dabbled with psychadelics and smoked some herb some years ago, but during those flat spells, man, i feel like I'm in withdrawal or something...i get miserable and feel empty inside. There is nothing better for me than being out in the water, being one with the ocean and forgetting about all the B.S. on land. I can honestly say that when i walk out of the water I feel completely fulfilled, rejuvinated on the inside(whether it be spiritually or emotionally, not really sure what it is...my soul feels better) and feel completely content and happy....and amped!!

There is absolutely no other activity that can give you what surfing gives you. It has humbled me, made me realize what is really important in life, and made me get off my ass and travel. I'm thankful everyday that I have my health and am able to enjoy the gifts the ocean brings us, just wish it would bring us some everyday...lol

[GoodVibes]

Im going to say when Im out there im at peace.No work,no bills,no pressures.I love every aspect of it.I try to take it all in .The sounds of a peeling wave,the smell of the salt water,the energy and power of a swell.Its pretty amazing if you really think about it, heres this wave which has traveled hundreads of miles and you have this board and you are actually able to jump on this board and ride all this moving water with all this energy.Its something thats really hard to decribe to anyone, its something you have to experience.

[sheetglass]

“There’s tax documents flying everywhere. Screaming babies. Bits of elevator music. Car insurance payments and overdue registration. There’s angry gods, twisted politics, and a letter I’ve been meaning to write, all just whirling around me in the vortex. Receipts and bills. Appointments and deadlines. New Year’s resolutions and childhood traumas. Every last bit of it, lurching overhead, exploding onto the reef, choking on the foamball, anywhere but here. All my problems, all my worries, all my desires. Gone. And one way or another — whether I make it out of that tiny window of light down the line, or get lit up and laid out on the sand — all that matters is that it’s gone for now. This one tiny moment, it lasts for weeks.”
-Nathan Myers