DEAR SURFERS – SPRING 2024

Dear Surfers,

I always loved the ocean, and had a boogie board as a kid. One of my Boy Scout leaders took a surfboard to the beach one time, I gave it a shot, fell a couple times, but eventually got one 1 foot tall glassy wave all the way to the beach – the ocean picked me up, everything seemed to go silent and in slow motion but with crystal clarity – I felt like I was flying, and I was hooked. Over the years, I have been asked:

What are the benefits of knowing how to surf?

And honestly, TOO MANY to accurately convey, BUT I’ll try to give an impression.

1. It’s ridiculously fun.

2. A sense of adventure, and reason to travel to amazing places (that attract other cool people), have AMAZING experiences (with said cool people). Build a network of cool people around a shared passion, around the globe.

3. Health and fitness – it’s a motivator to stay super healthy and fit, and has been a great reason / motivator for me to make smarter decisions about diet, exercise, alcohol / other lifestyle choices. This is true at all ages / stages of life.

4. Learn to accept things you can’t control, and to stay calm (& even thrive) in those situations. For me personally, when I was learning (around age 14), I was pretty self-conscious and introverted. I got super into surfing, and not only did it give me a “thing,” what it REALLY gave me was a profound sense of self-confidence that then allowed me to be more “myself” instead of trying to “fit it.” The Ocean doesn’t care who I am, what I dress like, what music I like, who my friends are (or aren’t). It doesn’t care about anything at all, actually – least of all, me. That may sound scary- and maybe at first it was- but turns out it was incredibly liberating as well.

5. Respect and develop / foster a deep connection with the natural world. A healthy habit and escape from modern life & technology.

6. Confidence / resilience. Some of that confidence can carry over to other areas of life. Surfing can be super hard and frustrating. The fact that I’ve figured it out to some level of proficiency has given me confidence to figure out other hard things.

KEEP GOING,

Gil Olser, Owner & Systems Developer