Tag Archives: fun

The Joy of Surfing

I spent all day today out at the beach surfing. I was recently hooked on it after going up to a friend’s holiday house and going out on one of her foam boards (typically reserved for learners). I had an absolute blast and wasn’t atrocious so I decided to buy a board myself. I went up to her house again with a few friends and the swell was pretty small but very good fun at a beach around the corner from her house, short rides but not intimidating so great to practice on. Later in the afternoon we went to the beach right out the front of her place and the waves looked very small but I was determined to get the most surfing out of my day up there so we went out. I went out on her foam longboard and the waves ended up being perfect, moderately sized and really nice, cruisy rides. I caught several waves for a good 20-30s each, carving around the wave and walking up and down the board.

This day and my time surfing made me realise how present you have to be when you surf, if you are not focussed entirely on what is happening at each moment, you will either: not catch any waves, get smashed, or fall off your board if you do get on one. There are many components to surfing, you have to be able to pick the right spot, where the wave is breaking enough to allow you to get on and surf it. You have to be able to paddle hard enough to get on it, this is crucial and if you are worried about stacking it, or what other people are doing, you won’t get on the wave. When I first got out there today I was like that, nervous I was in the wrong spot and would look back at the wave all the time and my friend said “you’ve just got to look forward, paddle and commit” and thereafter I did and caught many more waves. After paddling to get on the wave you have to pop up and surprisingly this isn’t the hardest part for me, but you need to pop up and be perfectly balanced for where you are on the wave, if you’re up high on it you need to lean forward to move down it and stay on it, if you’re in the middle its a good idea to start turning to go with the break, and if you’re down the bottom you’re probably going to lose speed and get a big push from behind by the crashing wave, so you must lean back in anticipation without falling off. Now, once you’re on the wave you’re constantly re-adjusting your weight so you can stay upright and moving, and finally voila, you’re surfing.

As you can see there are many things going on that you have to rapidly adjust to in real time, therefore, have to be present and mindful, without other things clouding your mind. There is a reason surfers are usually very chill.

The feeling you have when you’re on a nice wave is magical, you’re feeling the wave, feeling it pull and push underneath you whilst you glide over it. I’m just stoked to be learning how to surf and genuinely enjoying every aspect of it, the ocean is a magical place and when the surf is good, it’s hard to have a bad day.

Not drinking at parties

In the past I’ve often gone out to drinks with friends without the intention to drink and I’ll often get just one drink. I have recently been thinking about this and wondered why I just have one drink because I don’t necessarily really enjoy the drink. I’m not drinking to get drunk (obviously) but I’m also not enjoying the one drink, I’m getting it because I feel like I should. I also notice my sleep gets affected after just one drink, especially if it’s a beer.

This has really made me think, why is it that sometimes we have that one drink. I think we do this because when everyone else is out drinking we don’t want to be seen to be ‘the boring one’ who doesn’t drink, and that one drink is enough for people to leave us alone. This is a shame really and a testament the our great Aussie culture of drinking where we’re looked at funny if we aren’t drinking. I also think that if we’re out with a big group of friends it can be seen as a sign we don’t like the people as much. I could be wrong here but if we go out and everyone is getting drunk and having fun, without a drink in hand we aren’t committing to the night at the same level as everyone else; regardless if we’re having just as much fun.

Another aspect of it I believe is also that we may be thought of as judging the drunk people more so people become a little more guarded around us.

The dynamics of drinking at a party can seem straightforward, but when you decide not to drink I feel like we’re seen as not committing and joining in as much.