Use me

Over the years, some of my urban, non-surfing friends have expressed concerns about my associations with surfing. Variously, they have counselled me to get a better paying job, to leave the coast and to grow up. They have expressed their concern that the surfing stories I write and and the ideas I work on preclude me from being taken seriously in the wider world. I listen to them, smile and nod, and appreciate that their interventions are based on care for me and their worry that surfing is holding me back from a greater level of success in my life, work and finances. They love me dearly and only wish me the best.

So I sit and I listen to them. But I always find myself smiling and drifting, their words taking me away into the water. Because I like my life and I like that the ocean and catching waves are a part of it, I like the way all of that makes me feel and that I get to write about all of that. I feel lucky. Maybe it is a one-sided relationship, but it certainly works for me.