Soul Surfing

[IrishGirl]

I still disagree.

So many people go to the sea for walks/ fishing etc. just to clear the head, relax yourself. The same way as being near the sea is meant to have a good effect on your sleep as the sound of the ocean mimics your breathing, it's proven to relax people.

I don't think you can say that about skating, snowboarding...etc. Aswell as that (and as mentioned in Step into Liquid) it's not like if you play tennis/skate your going to spend hours watching the tarmac.

For me, even if the waves are crap I'll still spend ages just watching the sea.

I can see how music/dancing is good for 'the soul' and how people would be passionate but I don't think it's quite the same as surfing.

With surfing it's not only the thrill of catching the wave but just being out in the sea waiting for the waves aswell.

[Phil]

theres not a yes no answer to this question everyone surfs for there own reasons, some surf just becuse its cool others will surf for a pure love of the ocean, it doesnt mater what soul surfing is its imposable to say soul surfing is this or that becuse everyones veiw of it is diffrent and there all right, we surf for are own reasons and should respect each other for them

[hawaiiSUCKSexceptsurf]

its also been proven that exercise and music can help you sleep. i dont think a happily lived life of a man whose never seen the ocean makes him in any way ignorant to what else is out there. i can stare at sunsets and mountains and city scapes for hours also, as long as it has a view. the ocean is nice to look at, but so is the side of a cliff on the top of a mountain you just spent half the day hiking up.
youre right, people die for their passions. people here in hawaii seem to die atleast every month from street racing. i think thats one of the most idiotic things out there, but theyre out there risking their lives for it. im not trying to compare them to surfers, because as much as i hate to contradict myself by saying this, i really do think i am more in touch with the world and spiritual getting my highs in nature, taking care of plants, hiking and surfing, but they might just be thinking the same thing about me.
"soul" music to me sounds like crap, but somehow they got that term. to me soul music is elliot smith and nick drake. im going off subject here but yeah whats one persons soul is another persons "who the hell cares?"

[Broosta]

I think we would be on dodgy territory if we started to say, 'because we are surfers then we are better than everyone else because...' Its all relative. We are happy doing what we do but that doesn't give us the right to get all high and mighty and judgmental.
Granted, surfers are the absolute best at surfing but not neccessarily the best at being human beings.
We are up there tho..

[CheeZee]

... " aaah what a lively lil'debate we got going on here

It is great to see and read everyones interpretation of Soul and soul surfing ... this subject was never about wether we are all ( as surfers ) better or worse as human beings than the next person ... as we all have said , it is totally relative to the person and his her feelings when you get out in the water .

I think that we should leave this alone now and just simply agree ... " We all have strong feelings on this' ...and that is a very , very good thing !.

WE rock , spiritually , mentally , physically and soul'fully

[IrishGirl]

theres not a yes no answer to this question everyone surfs for there own reasons

Firstly, I don't think by being a surfer it makes me 'better' than a non-surfer.

As I've said before it's hard to describe the feeling I get when surfing. As you said phil, people do it for different reasons, maybe for them it's just for the actual thrill of it - for me it's everything combined and I can't put into words the feeling I get from it. But for me I can totally understand where the phrase 'soul surfing' came from.

I'm just glad I found it

[CheeZee]

... " hehe think we all getting caught up' in this !

" no one is saying that anyone has ' said that they were better than anyone 'lol' ..does that even make f'ing sense ?!!

Its way cool that everyone feels this strong about the subject , obviously a lot of deep' surfing dudes and dudettes out there .

" none more so than me ,.. trust "

I'll waffle on about this untill you lot go grey if you want ?!

[CheeZee]

: Irish girl ...

post a comment on my subject on 'chat' listing : " what is it about surfing " :

...reckon you could kick start that lil'debate again

[IrishGirl]

Better not!

Think I'm a bit too opinionated! Best stay away!

[CheeZee]

...naa " ... ya can never have too many opinions

..ask my friends 'lol' ... i might not know what there on about ..but you can sure as hell bet i've got an opinion on it 'lol'

" have a great weekend all ... i'll be ere tomoz (weekend work suckin , same as usual !)

peace n love y'all ...CheeZee

[hawaiiSUCKSexceptsurf]

... "

WE rock , spiritually , mentally , physically and soul'fully :wink:

:D :wink:

thats exatly what im talking about. ive met some real asshole surfers. ive had punks snake me and cut back into me and drop in on my rides, then blame me. ive had people call me a kook because i have blonde hair and they theink im a tourist, and when i tell them in not they tell me to shut the fleshin' up and go to waikiki. theyre usually fatass hawaiians on longboards too. well excuse me fatass my boards shorter than i am and i sure as hell can rip a lot better than you and your 10 ft canoe board. ife seen these fleshin' get in beginners ways on purpose and yell at them to stay the fleshin' outta their way.
i go by myself. its my freedom. i go whenever i want. after school, in the morning before class, on the weekends. it makes me happy. none of my friends are surfers, and theyre a lot kinder and better at being human and spiritual than a lot of surfers out there. most of the girls i know arnt surfers either, and theyre more attractive than most of the surfer girls i see out there. when i talk to girls i think are cute i dont think "oh is she a surfer, because if shes not then shes not soulfull like me." i dont care if she is or not, as long as shes real and true to herself, i dont care what she does for fun. of course something like racing i wouldnt like, because its full of superficial xxxxx, like having fancy noise making crap on your car.

surfing can help you psychologically, physically and make you a happier person. you can get the same thing from jogging or biking if thats your thing. i dont like doing that its too hilly here to bikeride, and its too hot to jog. but some people do like it, and it makes them better people, spiritually, physically, mentally, and soulfully.

[babyboarder89]

well said!

[CheeZee]

theyre usually fatass hawaiians on longboards too. well excuse me fatass my boards shorter than i am and i sure as hell can rip a lot better than you and your 10 ft canoe board. ife seen these xxxxx get in beginners ways on purpose and yell at them to stay the xxxxx outta their way

'lol' ... i get this all the time because im a beginner but i can get out to the back' no trouble and i love going in the storm white water no matter how big .... i dont think some guys like it that a beginner who might not yet have the skills but he sure as hell has got the balls to sit out there with em'

" hey at least you got honolulu to surf .. thats gotta be pretty ... you should see what we gotta surf !!

have a good weekend 'hawaiisux'

[hawaiiSUCKSexceptsurf]

hey thanks you too

to me hawaii is like a beautiful cage. ive lived here as long as i can remember except when on vacations. i have never seen the fall or spring, and i cant remember what anything below 60 feels like. i have a few picture memories of snow from when i visited my grandparents at age 9. you might think thats a good thing but when youve been in a constant summer for all of what you can remember of your whole life, it sucks. hence the screen name, hawaiisucksexceptsurf.

[Phil]

grass is allways greener on the other side though

i would happly trade places with you summer makes me feel great i can get out an do the things i love alot more when winter comes and it rains nearly 24/7 it realy depresses me

[Broosta]

Hey Hawaii, really cool to hear the real deal about 'paradise'! I would love to visit the place for the waves and the scenary but have always had my doubts on the hospitality in the water side of things.
The heavy vibe as depicted in North Shore, Blue Crush etc is something that has put me off going - well at least until I'm good enough to hold my own properly (note: breath not being held!)
We got some arseholes here that surf too, they are longboarders as well!
Keep it real .

[IrishGirl]

Yeah, you see I couldn't hack that kinda vibe. That's not what surfing is about at all. There's a spot near me that has probably the biggest attitude problem in any of the beaches in the county where I live and as much as I like the waves there, it really turns me off going out there.

And the attitude there is NOTHING compared to what I've seen in films/heard about Hawaii/Oz.

[hawaiiSUCKSexceptsurf]

most town (south) shore spots arnt too bad, although some are. north shore isnt too bad either when its off season, but when its huge all the pros are in and they think they own the place. saying "we live here and you only come here in the winter, you have no right" well it doesnt count when you were touring the globe the rest of the year, sorry buddy. plus the 80% humidity that makes it feel like its about 100 when youre outsidde, ALL YEAR, gets awfully old. i dont care how depressing winter is, atleast you have both. i spend all year hoping for cloudy days when the temperature wont go above 80, even though it always feels about 15 degrees higher than it actually is. minimum wage here is 6.25 and you cant get a shitty studio apartment for less then 500 a month, native hawaiians march the streets like a mob, segregation here exists, hawaiians get free housing, they have their own schools, and recieve scholarships. we dont have universal health care like in europe, weed is very illegal, and our government is full of assholes.. hows that for paradise? sorry but i enjoy whining about how much i hate this place.
i want to move to washington. im sure that once i have a job and get married i wont have the time to surf everyday anyway and ill be content with surfing in the summer and hiking, snowboarding, biking or whatever other exercise i can get in the colder months.
i saw that main cop guy from that hawaii cop show surfing yesterday. i always see them filming that show near my spots. its kinda cool. if anyone wants to talk about hawaii surf or why i dont like hawaii or whatever you can aim me mines is emoforbreakfast.

[Brent]

Yea, good call. Likewise for me here. I live in NZ's number one beach holiday destination and we have similar , although not as bad problems here.
What you refer to salary wise is what we here call the "sunshine tax", I believe it's a term from Surfers Paradise in Australia...artifically low salaries & astronomical property values... this is common in most holiday destinations.

True locals can no longer afford houses here and have had to move inland or away from the area. We used to have a vibrant & interesting local community of about 20,000 people year round - just like any cool beach town. Now we have a community that during the week days & winter months is a ghost town of garish, cheaply built apartments & empty holiday homes of the wealthy & rich overseas people who jet in for summer.

These vulgar, crass people have no interest in contributing to local community or taking part in anything to make our town a home. All they care about is their capital gain from their property investment.

What true local remain work in the service industries (waiting tables, cleaning, shops etc etc) and many have 2-3 jobs just to survive. Being a holiday destination...people coming here bring what they need, and apart from food & liquor have no need or local industry, we joke about it being a town full of hotels, pubs & food joints...and little else. The nearest museum is 88 kms away and art gallery...212 kms away.

So, when you all say "how nice it would be to live in a warm sunny place with a beach vibe all year round", remember the only real jobs you can get in many of these places now involve waiting tables or swallowing sperm. An interesting dynamic place to live is created by art galleries, libraries, statues, interesting history, public parks & spaces, vibrant interesting people, local businesses, students, local music scene and the like...not by sunny weather.

[babyboarder89]

they have some of the same problems in devon and cornwall, all the homes being bought up for holiday homes, and locals havent got a hope of buying anything. so theres towns with very few people in. i dont live there, but id like to, and theres no way first home buyers have a chance. but i suppose itll always be that way because everyone wants a part of life by the sea, surfer or not, and the houses will keep being expensive untill they build new ones and the place is destroyed, and everyone moves onto the next town. scary stuff.