So, all the bs worldly psychological stuff aside, I was thinking (mainly out of frustration).... I love to be in the water....surfing any time I can. I just can't get enough. I have caught some quality waves, gotten worked hard, countless smiles in the ocean, and many awesome memories! But, I yearn for more. I surround my thought process with the prospect of "the next wave/sesh". Literally planning my next trip or my next "break away" for some waste high glass. I can't stand it. Nowhere in my life do I feel more aware of "the pursuit of happiness" than surfing waves. It's a strange brew....yearning for more. Contentment in the moment then dreaming intently for the next opportunity to pull inside only to be delivered like birth of man (or Woman). The motion of life is nothing but a blink of an eye and a sick barrel even more brief. Those moments are the ones we savor as golden. Yet, we are beholden by the yearn for the next one. I yearn to be delivered once again from a sick pit....oh how I yearn! you?
Oh, definitely JD But then Came a family and bills to pay, although I still yearned for surf. The kids out now but I still have bills to pay and still yearn for surf everyday. Many good memories of swells past, waves, moments, friends, trips and yes smiles, are what keep me content to know the beach will always be there even if I'm not.
I feel as you do. it is the place of all places where you can turn your back on what most people think is important and turn your attention to something spiritual and something you believe in . I think it's the time in the water where some of us find peace and solitude , it's those days where you appreciate life and the gift of having that yearning for waves and more waves and the next session. When you're not there you should be thinking about being there because thats where you belong and it is your home, it's where you come alive and understand life and why you do the things you do to get you back in the ocean. some say i make poor decisions to short cut the process to get me there( back in the water), the fact is this next waves what holds the key to my success however great or small it is. I can tell you that over the past year I have had the opportunity to surf with and around some quality surfers, much better than myself but we all share the attraction we all get it some more than others. With time and as our surfing abilities grow and our perspective evolved we find ourselves yearning for more, another taste another wave , another session. It's who we are , and inside the surfing community there is a smaller community of people who really get it. It's not being dedicated or being better, it's that yearning of the next wave, the next session.
Just wait until the morons around you in the water bring out water-proof iPhones, etc....the screaming to be heard will be annoying and destroy all your thoughts above--you will no longer find that solitude you are looking for. For me, that solitude is long, long, long gone. But then again, I was accustomed to a much emptier break; there is a world of difference in surfing crowds from the 60 and 70s compared to today. I was actually able to surf Rincon, PR all by myself, perhaps with 2 others for a week at a time during large swells, etc. Not anymore; your thoughts are ephemeral, but a faint memory.......a chimera of yesterday, they no longer exist unless you define "solitude" as having only 2 dozen surfers around you living the same hallucination you are??
O'berry, I know for a fact you yearn....you yearn for that last epic session @ Tres. I'm thinking beyond lifestyle...more deep. Maybe age has something to do with it (for both of us). Water time is sacred and never gets old to me.
That, my brother JayD, is the torture of being human, and our need for more everything... better everything. That somehow we're never perfectly satisfied, no matter how good we have it, or how much of it we have. It's the agonizing anxiety of the unlived future on one side of our existence, and the memories of moments lived in our past on the other side of our existence. In between the two is the fleeting present... and the torture of our human-ness is in our inability to live life fully in the present moment. In the Zen world, it is Samsara... the endless cycle of existence from future to present to past, that seems like it should bring you some sort of solace, knowing that life is an endless, flowing stream of time that never ends. But really, its the torturous existence of humans in the perpetual search for oneness and inner peace.
I moved across the country with no job prospects to surf! I feel ya. The yearn is real! Shoot, I'm up 30 minutes before first light getting my day in order so I can go grovel over 2' waves for 45 minutes.
I started surfing late. Christ, I grew up in Syracuse then moved to Buffalo, then two hundred miles from the Ocean in NC. My wife and I lived (and still do) in a "starter home" and saved money so we could get a place on the ocean. Since I started surfing, I've missed lots of epic swells do to work and family, but I've manged to get wet for at least one session a month for 64 months in a row. I've paddled out when I should've known better, and I've paddled out hoping a boat would go by so I could surf its wake. It doesn't matter; I always feel like a better person after I surf.
This is some good truth. I too, am often caught up reminiscing past memories, places, people, waves; and also frequently look to the future, thinking it will be greater, a better day, more waves, more consistent waves, more consistent clean waves, a day when all I have to do is wake up and catch waves etc. But your life is all of what you make of it. If you put out positive vibes, they will return to you. Embrace where you are in your current state. Enjoy the little things in life. And when the good waves come, embrace those too. There is too little time to waste. Move to a place like Scobes where you could get your fill everyday. I see that in my distant horizon but I'm still going to thoroughly enjoy where I'm at. It's a waste if I don't. I read a quote the other day and it somewhat relates. Went something like this... If you had $84600 and someone stole $10 would you get rid of the $84590 just to find out who stole it? Probably not... There are 84600 seconds in a day. So when someone or something causes negative emotions for 10 seconds, why ruin the rest of your 84590 seconds trying to rectify it? Just don't. Use your seconds wisely because they are limited. And what I'm getting at, is yearning for something can be great but don't let it cause regret or sorrow. Embrace where you are but be happy for your past and look forward to your future. You guys have me feeling spiritual, right on.
LB is on the mark. It's that fleeting moment. Then, I want another one! Shoot I even do it within a session. What's the first thing you do after you catch a good wave...paddle back out with excitement and try to score another. I recall a line from the Barbarian Days book that was something like...experiencing eternity for a moment. The think the contentment we feel in that moment is so powerful that we desire it subconsciously almost as a constant. Scobes...I'm the same way. Always working an angle to get in the water!
I'm yearning right now. Rained out from work and hoping the swell picks up, as it's supposed to this afternoon.
Yea dude, I hear you on the routes. I have no regrets delaying life and spending time on the rock. I guess I'm in the center lane...for now. Trying to have it both ways. Probably where some of my frustration comes from. 1. I can't stand missing waves on the EC due to "obligations" b/c it is sooo damn fickle 2. There are so many great waves around the world to experience. I would not be surprised if I end up back there in the next 5-10 years. I'm looking to spend some of next winter there though. Surf Travel (or living at a premier spot....Belmar does not count) does wonders for the soul. I have always sorta used the wave tank as a gauge. You know half full, very full etc. I'm two months removed from my Indo trip and feeling half full still. I was hopeful for an epic tropical season which thus far has been average. The other thing you mentioned about non-surfers is so true (although my Mom gets me more than anybody). My neighbor last winter was like...your going surfing today, it's so cold!
[video=vimeo;45049831]https://vimeo.com/45049831[/video] The addictions real Waiting on swells like I'm waiting for the man Flakka makes the lull's tolerable Just ax Doug
Variable rewards are much more addictive than fixed rewards psychologically so surfing has that like few other 'sports' or recreational activities. Going skiing/boarding on a groomed mountain three days in a row will probably be pretty repetitive by the end of day two unless you're in Switzerland or something. Going surfing three days in a row will not. Living where you can walk to check out the waves might be different a little than if you have to drive any distance to get to the break, but I doubt it really.
