Surf World Events and the Dichotomy of the Surf Experience Continuum

Yikes... What a title! Read along and judge whether this deserves such a lofty moniker: Lots of wordwide surf events swirling this week...Flat summer blues are settling back in on much of the U.S. but the Rip Curl Pro Search Somewhere contest is finding waves "somewhere" today. Lucky blokes! Slater is the man to beat, but Parko has a shot at solidifying his second place slot with a big win. Also, it seems that Nathaniel Curran is keeping the family ripping tradition by grabbing a first place slot on the WQS (World Qualifying Series) and looks to be solid for next year's World Championship Tour. Also, Bud Browne, who was an early surf film pioneer, died at the age of 96. RIP

All this disparate surf related "stuff" makes you think about how everything that happens exists on separate but constant continuums. Who might be pulling into a fat tube at this very second, getting the wave of his life, or getting caught inside and smashed over a shallow reef while you read this? Right this second. It doesn't mean that reading about it on the computer or in a mag makes you less of a surfer or that you are somehow missing out on your human experience because you'll be that guy or girl having the stellar session at some point while someone else sits and does something trite and boring.

So what if you miss that one day of waves and your buddies say "Dude, you missed it!"...Well, you did miss it, but they will miss another day. Sure, work and other nonsurfing activities often intrude on our full ocean immersion goal, but that's life and there are other things happening out there that warrant some attention. Can you truly ignore it all and surf every day? Sure, some have done it. But you may pay in the long run because most of the world (I mean like 99.999%) can't devote every second to surfing. You might end up lonely in the end. I think the key is balance. Understand that a day of work actually builds your stoke and makes surfing even more special. That may not make the fact any better that the buoys are building and the wind is forecast to be offshore in the morning, and you have a full day of work planned, but it may give you enough strength to make it through without killing someone. Besides, none of this means you can't call in sick every once in a while.