Why Do You Surf?

“Try to explain color to a blind person, & try to explain surfing to someone who’s never surfed.”

Dave Rastovich

This question seems straightforward enough – what makes you paddle out in the morning? I see a lot of people in the water that I really want to ask this question to.  I feel like it’s a pretty easy question to answer, and my theory is that I would receive a rather interchangeable range of answers; because you love it, you’re ‘addicted’ to it, you’ve been surfing as long as you can remember, etc. In my recent consideration I was brought back to Billabong’s “I Surf Because” series from 2011 and found a lot of what I was looking for – sincere, thought out narrative pieces that portrayed some of surfing’s most beloved characters, and their personal reasons for partaking in this act we all love. In each episode I found at least one frame of mind that runs parallel with my own logic, if not the whole lot together. There’s no wrong answer to the question, if you already surf then the reasoning is rather frivolous, but something inside of me just wants to know. Needs to know. Demands so. There’s always that one guy out there that makes me wonder “What the fuck are you doing out here?” So. Now, after this post, I am undertaking a mission. I am going to start an experiment, a case study, if you will. 

There is something more to surfing than everything perceived on the surface, from the outside in. There is an immeasurable force that keeps surfers crawling back to the ocean, yearning to stand up on some moving water for a few seconds. Some people chase the feeling of their first wave ever, or the best wave of their life. Some pursue the feeling of accomplishment similar to a workout in the gym. A lot of people I know and surf with do it because their dad or older brother did it and taught them the way. Maybe a friend, cousin, or neighbor invited you when you were younger. Some are widely considered “soul surfers” and seek to be at peace in nature. Some surf to travel the world. Truth be told, everyone has a different mentality for everything they do, though we all may be doing the same thing (vague). I’m beginning to ponder if the means in which one was introduced to surfing makes a difference in why they would resume, but this is an illiterate assumption. What I’m looking for is the answer to why people keep coming back to surfing. What makes someone reshape all other elements of their life to pursue such a selfish act of catching waves in the ocean?

 I’ve been brewing over the thought of my personal response for quite some time now, and I have come to the conclusion that I don’t have a solid, concrete answer. There is not one specific reason I could give right now to conclude why I surf.  I just get up and surf, I don’t even really think about it anymore, which is what brought me upon this post. Maybe in this research I will find a definite response. Probably not. I plan on conducting an undetermined amount of interviews – or interrogations, depending on your perspective, over the next 2 months. I hope to talk with daily grinders, weekend warriors, ex-pro’s, loggers, quitters, spoiled kids and grumpy old locals, and YOU. I fancy to know what keeps this culture afloat. I will post my findings sometime in July. If you feel like sharing your story, post a comment below or send me an email. I respond to all of them

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-hwilsin