Oops, I did it again



Well worth the walk over

 I went surfing again today. I’ve been spending the past day or so at the nearby Salinas surfing lodge Magnific Rock, having arrived mostly to experience its famous magnific views. The lodge sits perched on a cliff 20 meters above the sea and is easy to spot from Popoyo beach. The “happy hour” sunsets are supposed to be incredible.

Or course most everyone that is here has come here to surf and soon I find myself discussing swells, wave heights, and tide situations. Or rather, listening attentively. My new physically perfectly blond surfer friend/roommate Alynne from Vancouver Island is generous with her knowledge and before I know it, I am actually considering joining her in the water down below. In the morning, we review surfing do’s and don’ts and a few other surfers at the lodge chime in with more helpful advice.

A big part of me doesn’t want to do this, but I decide I should listen to the (very) small part of me that does. Anyway, the waves really don’t look too bad from the lodge.

When we reach the beach below, however, I change my mind. The waves seem exponentially bigger from this vantage point, the white wash ominously ponderous, and the undertow way stronger than me. Alynne has paddled out some 20 minutes ago to join the experienced surfers on the horizon and I stand, then sit, frozen on shore. But then a woman I recognize from Gabriela’s yoga class and her friend wave me over. They are beginners too. In their company I find the courage to go in.

And even though I know I will never ever be good at this, this is why I feel so exhilarated when I come out:

• Because there is nothing like looking heart palpatating fear in the face and realizing that’s all it is, just fear. 
• Because finding and exploring your edge may reveal the juiciest parts of life
• Because experiencing something new is a way to collect chapters for the book that is your life
• Because taking a long shower after having been pummeled by salty, powerful waves is one way to experience bliss
• Because what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger



Enjoying the views with Muhammed

Hard to talk about this stuff without collapsing into clichés. Interestingly, all the things I love about my attempts to surf so far are all the reasons I also love to travel. I love how it scares, tests, exhilarates and ultimately, hopefully makes me stronger, better, wiser. The way it enables me to access and honor parts of myself I rarely get to see when I am safe at home, in an altogether different mode of being. Not better or worse, just different.

Fer sure, surfing is not my calling in life - I am still trying to figure out what that is. But I do think the moments of fear, hilarity and saltiness that it affords will make great fodder for my book.