2.13.2009

Changing of the Tide

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Our economy is shot. Recession? Not quite yet, but surely one lies on the horizon. People lose their jobs daily. Gigantic layoffs take place in America's strongest industries. Politicians speak of bailouts and stimulus packages. You and I wait for things to get better.

Then there is Mother Ocean. Living in a harmonious ebb and flow, unconcerned with frozen interest rates, economic stimulus, foreclosures and hefty job loss . She has no economy. She has no unemployment rate. She has no account balance. She frets over very little. She hopes to stay clean. She hopes to support the existence of a thriving ecosystem beneath her surface. She simply does: rises, falls, and produces rideable forms of energy known as waves. I ride these waves monthly. If I could, I would ride these waves daily, hourly, by the minute, by the second, by the nanosecond, by measurements of time so insignificant that time ultimately dissipates. Time serves no purpose while wave-riding. It has no place.

Then, there is me. A surfer. An unemployed surfer. An unemployed surfer stuck in a vicious tug-of-war between doing right for my wallet and doing right for my soul. The latter ultimately more important than the former, both equally compelling. While fixed in the city, I stew about our current economical crisis. It torments me. I, dare I say, worry about it. On the other hand, while emerged in the sea, I adopt her untroubled demeanor. Life is good. Life is grand. This is all I need. 

There must be a way to satisfy both. I will argue that being sedentary in a cubicle for 50 hours a week will ultimately destroy my soul. While selling all my earthly possessions, packing up and driving through the Americas in search of surf will undoubtedly bleed my wallet.

Unless.

Unless I can find a profession which allows me to fill my wallet while satisfying my soul. A career where I could travel, photograph and write. Write about my adventures, my raisin fingers, my border crossings, my sunburn, my waves, my woes and my wine. Photographing the world. One surf destination at a time. To show, but not tell. To entice, but not invite. To inspire, but not beckon. Traveling to the end of the earth in search of mysterious reefs and open ocean shelfs, hidden points and sandbars off the beaten path. This is the life I long for. This is the ultimate plan. This is it. 

2 comments:

  1. this is so clean. you must have a great editor.

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  2. super clean. great work, but your editor should have pointed out that this is a full blown recession.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehg69Hxl-QY Jeezy says so son. maybe you need a new editor... a traveling editor...??? just a thought when you get the good gig.

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