The Beauty of Sharks eyes...because there is beauty in the things you fear

When asked what it was about surfing I loved so much the only answer I could muster was something along the lines of 'I just do, I can't explain it.' So why do I like it? What is it about being on a board that has totally taken over my life since discovering it, little more than a few months ago? And then a dear friend of mine who knows me more than I care to admit summed it up for me in a sentence, I quote:


This year you've been held together by masking tape and glue, its been a tough year, so surfing for you has been like a metaphor for life, taking a pounding by forces greater than you but riding it out anyway.


[Thanks Rosie for the excellent insight!] . If I'm honest surfing began as a way to help heal wounds of the heart but has developed into something much, much more integral to me. Its no longer a symbol of love lost, its an emblem for hoping that things will get better, its a focal point, a challenge that devotes me to the elements around me and not to the inertia in my own head.


There is a temptation when writing a blog to only include the exciting aspects of life because lets be honest, its not sexy to tell the world you've shaved your legs or had baked beans for lunch. There is a danger however in only including the high octane parts, in that you lose the integrity and beauty there is found in the ordinary. I want to be honest with you, because only honest writing can connect with people. Life after graduating has been a series of peaks and troughs, mostly nose diving 2010 shall not be a year reflected upon fondly. Ever a glass half full kind of person however I realise that this year was supposed to serve as a lesson to me that [to use a line from Shawshank Redemption] you either get busy living or get busy dying.

So I celebrated the entrance of 2011 with dear friends and will not mourn the demise of 2010, or dwell too much on the humbling elements of the year past. I'm welcoming the New Year with a beamish smile and open arms. I dare to dream, I'll live voraciously, I'm going to open my ears, heart and soul to the world and see what I find.

All being well (please no snow)! Jan 20th I'll be flying out to Senegal, to work as a Yoga teacher at N'gor Surf Camp. I'll be there for three months perhaps longer if I fall in love with the place and the folks there like me! I'm going to try and keep my blogging up to speed whislt out there so people can catch up with what I'm doing (fingers crossed this is a new years resolution I actually keep)! I've found my dedication to my sport has bought me much solace, I'm practising yoga everyday, running and swimming as well as death by x-biking [Viki I'm blaming you]!. It seems keeping healthy has helped me through some rough patches so I'm looking forward to being able to surf for three months without interruption. Hopefully when I come back I'll actually be able to surf as opposed to the wiping out I do now!

After April things are a little hazy. Nobody tells you after graduating life will be like treading water, bobbing from one thing to the next without much sense of direction. I'll confess this ebbing and flowing has not sat well with my desire to be working towards something, I like a good plan. A little 9-5, home with the folks and spats with my siblings (we don't squabble about barbies anymore thankfully), has given me some much needed time to reflect, to figure out my desires as well as evaluate what I already have.

So...some advice...Graduates, people stuck in limbo, soul searchers and everyone else: don't despair in the mundane moments, or berrate yourself for your misfortunes. Beyond a wholesome discipline be gentle with yourself because everything happens for a reason and it is the seemingly 'boring' periods that we really discover what we're made of.

Happy New Year comrades make 2011 a good 'un!

x