You can do anything you want to do. What is rare is this actual wanting to do a specific thing: wanting it so much that you are practically blind to all other things, that nothing else will satisfy you.
Robert Henri
this morning under the blue bird skies I peddled slow so as not to break a sweat. because I left a little late the traffic flow was lower. there’s the people who have to be at work at 8:30 and those who have to be in at 9. there’s a 15 minute window between those shifts when traffic flow slows to a pleasant volume.
so I had some time to think. my mind has been surfy lately and I got to thinking about a conversation I was part of the other day. it revolved around some soured relationships and brewing feuds in the surf community. I listened and wondered about those people. I wondered what their lives were like. then I realized that for as much time as I spend in the water, and thinking and writing about surfing, I am not really part of the surf community.
naturally this lead me to think about where I fit. my immediate surf circle consists of Blacks, JB and Picaso. mostly I surf with Blacks and often I surf alone. there’s always the same faces in the lineup at the times that I surf. those others like me who love the sunrise from the vantage of their board. but outside of the water we don’t really see each other.
most of my surfy life is probably lived inside my head as I daydream about waves, boards, turns, fins and building my own vessels. I never had the need to belong to a social group. I never was one to join clubs or churches or fraternities. and I never felt bad about it. as I get older and begin to understand myself better I realize how important time is and how anonymity plays into that.
time is by far the most important resource in my life. and I have squandered enough of it to know its true value. keeping my focus on what is important is the key to maximizing the time I have left.
today’s tune:
3 Comments
I envy your conviction to your passions. You work hard at them and make an effort to do them. I think in a way I’m the opposite, I set myself up so that it’s easy to do what I love and I don’t have to work hard or make an effort to do it, it’s just there.
Different means to the same end.
The drama you mention is self-fulfilling and unnecessary. I like how you mention anonymity, that’s so true with many things in life. So much easier to just fly smoothly right below everyone’s radar avoiding any detection.
Eloquent as always – an interesting companion to this piece would be what it means to “squander time”..what is actually a meaningful use of your life energy and what isn’t… Of course, this concept would have different meanings to different people – but what does it mean to you?
These are wise words. Time is, after love and good health, one of the most important things.
greetings,
Eef
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