Seriously. Your hostess Inara is in San Diego with her boyfriend Kilt Kilpatrick on a week's vacation. Every morning is about the surfing (neither of us is very good, but we're having fun) and the rest of the time is about catching up with friends and family. So this is a fly by night sort of post, a placemark for those who'd like to stop by and chat even though I will be out most of today doing that vacation thing. The topic is also about surfing, or rather, doing something that scares you, but that you either love or else find something about it motivating enough to face your fears and persevere. For instance, I have always been scared of the ocean even though I'm drawn to it and feel uncomfortable if I live too far away from it. Learning to surf terrified me. But the first time I caught a wave on my board and rode it in on my stomach, I was hooked. So I've continued to push myself through that fear. I can't go as often as I'd like, but I will continue to surf as long as I can carry a board out into the water, whether I ride it in standing, crouching, on my knees or on my stomach.
What about you all? Pull up a chair/couch/pillow/chaise lounge/fainting couch and talk about it! You know where the bar is... :-)
17 comments:
I've got learning to surf down as my reward when I reach my target weight (and can face the wetsuit), in the meantime my half way reward is a snowboarding lesson. These are things someone with my coordination and balance should avoid. :)
I used to visit cemeteries, and professionally run "Haunted Houses". (I'm not sure whether that makes me morbid or just weird.) I haven't visited any supposedly real HH. (With my heart monitor battery powered it might be a stupid thing to do. (Sprirts are supposed to drain batteries to achieeve manifeatation. (I've heard enough stories to have Mark Twain's attitude: "I don''t believe in ghosts but I'm afraid of them.") ;-)
I used to visit cemeteries, and professionally run "Haunted Houses". (I'm not sure whether that makes me morbid or just weird.) I haven't visited any supposedly real HH. (With my heart monitor battery powered it might be a stupid thing to do. (Sprirts are supposed to drain batteries to achieeve manifeatation. (I've heard enough stories to have Mark Twain's attitude: "I don''t believe in ghosts but I'm afraid of them.") ;-)
Adele, I had the same issue with the evil wetsuit, but it did help me drop off some weight when I finally wriggled into it and got in the water. How was the snowboarding?! I am a klutz in those areas too, btw... And we're taking this morning off of the surfing 'cause we're both so dang sore!
Jack, that makes you very normal to me. :-)
I'm not big into surfing or any thrill sport: hell, I hurt myself badly walking. I'm afraid of weird things, like making phone calls and talking to people I've never met. I'm an introvert who's learned to be an exrtavert at times, but I realise, too, that I can only do it when I have a purpose.
I can teach a class, I can talk to a huge crowd, but I shrink at the thought of walking into a party where I'm not sure who will be there.
But years ago I got tired of letting opportunities slip away, so I steal myself to do things that terrify me and I get better. I try to do things that terrify me regularly.
@Jack, LOL on the Twain!
Have fun surfing those waves! I've body-surfed many times, but I've never actually surf-surfed. I'm sure it's a blast!
I miss the beach....
The scariest thing I ever did was sing the National Anthem (with twin sis, so I was not alone) for the opening of a Dodger baseball game. I still get nervous when I have to sing in front of large groups, but I remind myself othat nothing compares to that immense, fuzzy wall of people I sang to on that wonderfully terrifying August 1993 afternoon. ;-)
Margery, I have those same social anxieties....
I think my scariest moment was singing at an academic conference. I am not a singer, but I was giving a paper at Harvard on Finnish magic and the group Värttinä's use of charm texts. I brought my kantele to play, but I wasn't sure up until the time I opened my mouth whether I would be able to sing.
But I did. In front of my fellow scholars, in front of two of the mentors I admire most, in front of all those people. Terrifying, but it fit and Stephen Mitchell told me it was "kaunis!" (beautiful).
So I use as one of my catch phrases in email sigs, "Audaces fortuna iuvat" or Fortune favours the bold. And I try to be bold.
@Lisa, I think a lot of writers fall into the social anxiety sufferers category. The worlds in our heads are so much more exciting.
I'm totally with CM! Actually, just about any social interaction freaks me out! And despite my love of the undead . . . haunted houses too!! I was chased by a chainsaw wielding maniac when I was little in one and never got over it.
You'd think I'd learn to surf, given my new home, but have not yet gotten around to it.... maybe when the kids are bigger.
Sounds like you and KK are having a blast!!
I'm afraid of heights -- although I'm not afraid to fly. Somehow it's different.
Jack, I love cemeteries and always take photos. :)
Dana - couple more stone before snowboarding.
CMKEmpe totally with you on the party thing.
Lisa and Kate - singing? hell no, I never sing aorund people.
Lately? I'd say writing.
AdeleI should have taken some pics but my trips were mainly for atmosphere. Well after all, I was born early the morning after Hallowe'en. Go figure.
I've never surfed so I've undoubtedly missed a lot of fun. I'm sure Dana will give us a rundown when she returns. (If the stories don't get in the way that is.
Thanks for the reassurance Dana. It's great to know I'm not all that strange. LOL.
I have a couple of friends who give cemetery tours in New England and love sharing their expertise. I have lots of lovely photos of Mt Auburn, which is my cat Maggie's final resting place (Boston gal who died in Texas, I wasn't about to leave her there!). Cemeteries in the 19th century were made to be like parks so people could hang out with the lost loved ones. Some are quite beautiful. Check out Highgate sometime -- absolutely wonderful. I haven't made it to Père Lachaise yet, but I suspect I will. If I get to Rome this fall, I know there are many cemeteries to see there!
Thanks Kate. I'd like to visit Highgate someday. The photos I've seen show it to be a spectacular place. (Of course Hammer Films utilized it formany memorable shots in several of its gothic adaptations of classic Universal monsster flicks.)
Come to think of it, the entire United Kingdom contains many attractive places to visit: Tintagel, Whitby, the many abbey ruins, and many others.
A long vacation in the U.K. seems to be prescribed. :-)
Absolutely! And chock full of fabulous writers and ADELE! Whom I can highly recommend meeting and hanging around with in pubs.
:-D
Whitby is amazing and not just for the Dracula lore. Wonderful seaside location and not to far from York, a gorgeous medieval city.
Places I have not yet been in Britain: Cornwall, the Lake District, western Ireland. Hoping I get a chance to go to the latter next year -- fingers crossed. Britain is a magical place. Stonehenge is nice, but do yourself a favour and go to Avebury. Amazing and you can touch the stones.
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