Fear

I've just got back from a few days down south with the family and my mate Frank. We got out for a couple of good surfs. Surfs in sizable waves where the element of fear is real indeed! We were chatting in the car on the way back from a session, at first recounting the waves which gave us awesome rides and those that thrashed us, then discussing the joy that comes from having that sense of fear. The feeling that things may go very wrong, from a free fall from takeoff to a hold down from serious waves when caught inside.

There is certainly the sense that the fear is simply a byproduct of something that gives you great joy, if you want to experience the beauty of flying down the face of a big wave, or standing inside a tube, you have to risk what happens if and when it all goes wrong.

I think that the fear adds to the experience because it forces you into the moment. You cannot think about the many mundane things that fill your mind the majority of your time. It is just here and now, do I go or not? Quickly to my feet. Balance of feet, balance of body, fine movements, now. This wave is the most important thing in my universe for that moment. It takes up all my thought, my body, my spirit. And when you look at an empty wave, peeling off, tubing and spitting, that has got to be a good thing to, for that short period of time, be the most important thing for me.