19 Apr Surfing Reminds Me of What Matters
There are few experiences as beautiful as surfing while the sun comes up. Yesterday, my buddy and I were in the water at 6 a.m.
The ocean was a silky blue grey, as was the overcast sky. I haven’t surfed in a while. I’m decent, nothing to write home about. I just love being out there.
Even if I catch nothing, I enjoy paddling. The exercise. The refreshing cold water healing my body.
The sun remained hidden as it rose beyond the hills across the road from the beach. Pink rays gleamed through pockets in the clouds, casting a delicate patina upon the water’s crest.
I waded in the water; the waves rolled slow; I looked back at the hills, shamrock green from recent rain, reminding me of Ireland.
Nothing could beat this. It’s magic, really.
We got coffee on the way home. The warm aroma filled the car; the wonderful morning — a return to my roots — filled my soul.
This experience was one of several this week that made me grateful just to be alive. An awesome one-on-one dinner with a friend; a jaw-dropping sunset on a walk; just the ability to play basketball again.
It’s the simple things that mean the most.
I had these moments of deep appreciation despite a speed bump in my journey that at first, had me a bit frantic.
Last Friday I got a message saying that my Substack was taken down due to violating their scamming and phishing policy. Come on, me?!
It didn’t tell me why.
I’ve loved Substack so far. It’s a home for writers to build something of their own. The community seems amazing — these are my people! And I love the notes feature, as I can post swift thoughts, poems, or ideas that don’t need to be turned into an article.
I’d been working hard to build a foundation on Substack as my digital dojo, and then all of a sudden, it was gone.
I was pissed.
What to do next? Well, I’d write an appeal. Then what?
Well, nothing . . . There was nothing to do but wait.
“A rational person can find peace by cultivating indifference to things that are out of their control,” says entrepreneur and investor Naval Ravikant on one of my favorite podcasts, Modern Wisdom.
I listened to this episode at just the right time — the same day as I got banned on Substack, randomly. This idea imbued my week with calm instead of anxiety.
Trust me, I know this is a tough lesson to embody. I feel things deeply. I hurt. I worry just as much as anyone.
But I think this practice applies to the little things that usually weigh us down, the things we expend mental energy worrying about that mean nothing in the end.
Was there anything I could do about the situation besides wait for a response? No. So I resolved to not let it take over my life.
I tried to see this obstacle as a sign:
Slow down, work on other things, enjoy yourself.
So I did. And then, of course, when I stopped caring and lost myself in living, the problem was resolved.
A couple of hours after surfing, I got a response from Substack:
“It looks like your account was incorrectly flagged as spam. I’ve corrected the issue and you should now be able to use it again.”
Sweet.
Writing online matters to me. It’s what I spend the majority of my time doing.
I missed being able to share my ideas and words with my community, even if it was only for five days. I felt untethered, a bit lost, and maybe that’s good.
We don’t know what we have until it’s gone.
When I got access to my Substack back, I felt restored. That tells me this is what I’m meant to do. But I also learned that the things we think are so important really mean nothing.
We could leave this life tomorrow. What does it all really mean, anyway?
Who knows?
So why not enjoy what little time we have on this floating rock without the unneeded stress? Why not spend time nourishing our spirit instead of draining it by doing things like surfing beneath a fading moon?
Out there, the difference between what’s trivial and what’s important becomes clear as day.
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