Pure therapy

What a needed dose of swell therapy that little unseasonable N swell was last week! A little dose of solid waves like that serves as a pleasant reminder of just how therapeutic surfing can be. Sure, almost any paddle out ends up being good for the soul/psyche, but getting good waves just takes that to a higher level. After an arvo session last week on one of those 90 degree days topped it off. I got out of the water after around a dozen long rights and felt a tangible looseness in my shoulders, neck, back, and mind. I felt alert, energized, creative, and motivated. Here's to surfing in July and the benefits it imparts into all aspects of my life.

Inspired

Fired up from a little surf movie viewing last night, I took the plunge into rough and choppy conditions that I'd usually pass on. Paddled right out without issue, and to my suprise quickly got a nice long right. Made a few pumps and hit the inside section. As I popped up, it was almost as if the ocean said, "Wait, what the hell was that? This is not a surf day. No more of that, here comes your punishment." I started paddling back out to row after row of white water. Each time I popped up, the next shoulder-head high wave was already breaking 25 feet in front of me. I would literally get two paddles in after popping up before having to duck again. After 30 mins, I said thanks for the one ride, and headed in early. All well worth it.

Priorities

A year ago today I was in Indo on the pinnacle of all surf trips, and this year I'm not. It'd be easy to get all heady about alternative paths one could take to spend more time traveling, surfing, camping, hiking, etc. However, going down that train of thought is a bit of trap. Those activities are the ones that give the most pleasure in the instant, so there's some sort of evolutionary mental response that can lead you to believe that you should try to do those things all the time. At least for me, I know if I spent all of my time doing those things, I wouldn't actually be maximizing my happiness. So this year I'm focused on other things that are important to me in the long term. They don't necessarily yield the sustained euphoric rush of an Indo boat trip, but it's important stuff for me to do right now. That said, homeboy still needs to get in the water. Was in Yosemite for a long weekend which made for a great summer diversion, but I think tomorrow's the day for a paddle. Also, I'm seeing a surf flick tommorrow night which is sure to drive me nuts if I havn't gotten wet in a while, and it'll probably provide some added inspiration regardless: http://www.aquasurfshop.com/. Probably more likely to see you there than in the water these days.

Good Start

Well, I have to admit that despite my commitment to paddle out at R without checking, I did actually drive the beach. Despite bending the rules a bit, I DID end up surfing at R, and as expected, it was well worth it despite the sub-par conditions. I'm going to make a concerted commitment for the summer to paddle out at least one day a week no matter what. Waiting for good or even fair conditions at Ocean Beach in the summer is just not going to results in many surf days. Getting out there in the junk will only help to appreciate San Francisco fall that much more, and I'll lose less paddle fitness to boot.

Standards

I think I'm getting to the point of a "don't check it, just suit up" dawn patrol. Gas is too expensive these days to drive down to the beach just to pass on crappy spring/summer surf. I mean, what am I expecting? But once I get down there, and actually take a look, and maybe even drive the beach, it ends up being hard to throw the suit on and paddle out to borderline unrideable waves. Almost every time I'm in this surf-jones state, and I just get in the water no matter what, it ends up being surprisingly enjoyable, and a great reminder about how much I enjoy surfing, and how beneficial it is to my mental health.

Alright, I've talked myself into it. Tomorrow morning I'm paddling out. I'll do a Google search for the word "slop" and whatever the first letter in the first result's URL is, that'll be the street I'll surf at. Here goes: alright, got some sketchy website called "rustedtusks," so R it is.

See ya there... or probably not!

Energy

I'm freaking busy, and there's a lot of shit I want to do. I spend 10-12 hours on a given weekday at my office, and I try to get 6-7 hours of sleep. There goes a big chunk. I try to get in the water any chance I get, usually before work. I'm trying to pick up kiting. I like to go out with friends. I enjoy eating. Then there's a whole slew of other things I'd like to do: learn to play guitar better, learn more about technical topics that relate to my work, read books, etc etc.

To do all that stuff, and to do it all at a high level, it comes down to having sufficient energy. Prahna, Chi, Get Up and Go, the Force, call it what you will. The more of it you have, the more you can accomplish at a high level. So I've been thinking about how 90% of ones energy level is circular. For example, doing the things you love energizes you, which enables you to do more of what you love at a higher level. This cycle can work virtuously where you do a lot of what you love, which naturally gives you an energy boost, which helps you perform better at everything you do, which causes you to love what you're doing that much more, and the cycle continues. Obviously, this works in the opposite scenario. If you allow things to dominate your time that you don't enjoy, you can live in a constant state of energy depletion which is hard to break since breaking that cycle requires having the energy to do the stuff you love.

Surfing is such a prime example of this for me. When I get a good surf in before work, I feel energized, which helps me perform at a high level at work, which gives me further energy in the satisfaction of accomplishments. So there ya go if you needed more reasons to surf.

South Swell

As anyone who surfs it on a regular basis knows, OB has many faces. One of it's rarest is the "legit southswell" face. As far as faces go, it's sort of like seeing a smile at one of the city's points: a rare ly seen expression, but a pleasant surprise when it does happen.

I'd say something like one in five buzzed about south swells actually shows anything at OB, and even rarer than that is a gap in the spring/summer winds that actually make it an enjoyable experience.

So, on that note I'll look forward to the first of many south swell rumors that keep us going during the dry spells of spring and summer.