Mysto Surfing the Wilds

Aloha Tribe,

Now, as you all know, I just love surfing culture and that includes hanging and Talking Story, whether perhaps briefly in the Line-Up or after a session at greater length.

Yet, in the Wilds, I typically surf alone. Mainly, because, generally, at least in the Fall, Winter, and early Spring, there are so few if any surfers around on the frozen beach, let alone in the sea. And so, while I am drawn to sharing and hanging and being part of the group, due to where I surf, and, how I surf, I've grown up a bit of a Mysto Surfer.

A Mysto, by definition, is a Loner. More so, even the way they surf, that is, how, the whys, where, and what, remains sort of mysterious, unusual, and, well, exotic.

The thing that makes me a Mysto, besides so few wanting to be in 20 plus foot icy cold wildly churning Closed Out by all definition swells, is how and why I surf, namely, my Chi Gung.

For most of us, surfing is simply fun. We love the ride. The stoke. The feel of walking or standing on water. Yet, with what I do, there is so much more to it than that, for, I tear such concepts apart, searching into the bowels of them, exploring and adventuring into the darkest secret places, for the Chi.

Chi is a Chinese concept, and it refers to energy. It is the energy that is within us, and, around us, just like the Force in the Star Wars movies. Only, instead of being a movie, it's for-real stuff.

Now, I don't just surf "for," the the fun feeling of Chi, but more so, for what I can do with it in helping and healing others, especially surfers. For, once one learns it, Chi Gung offers ways to learn of the ocean, such as knowing when the swells will come, and where, as well as how big. You'll sense where exactly a wave will break and what it will be like before it happens. You'll be able to sense sea creatures and sea plants of all types, knowing them by their Chi patterns, as well as, in a sense, being able to communicate with them. On a more social scale, you'll be able to heal yourself of injury, and, to heal others, of cuts and sprains, broken bones and torn ligaments as well as of many diseases. So, I see such gifts from the art as ways to give back to The Tribe. Even if, where I surf, for the most part, the Tribe generally isn't there, at least at that time, for I am drawn to the wildest of seas, the coldest of climates, the most whipping rains and icy snows one can experience.

Now sure, I do love the North Shoe. For, what is not to love about Oahu. And, I go to Hawaii whenever I can, but, have yet to move there. I suppose, in the near future, I will make the leap, but for now, it's the Wilds that holds me, draws me, shapes me, teaches me, of her secrets and ways of surfing her wild seas.

When I surf, I'm not out to surf every single wave, frantically dropping down anything and everything coming my way, instead, I wait for the right wave. And, the right wave does not necessarily mean the biggest or steepest or most dangerous, it simply means, the right one, at that time. The one that calls to me.

In Hawaii, on the North Shore, I listened to the beautiful sea turtles. As odd as it sounds, they would show me exactly where the next wave was going to break, the wave they wanted me to catch, and, I'd paddle over to where they broke surface and made eye contact with me, sending their Chi to me, and, I , to them. And it was a magical feeling moment, a form of communication, a mental telepathy between girl and animal, that most would probably think is not even possible, yet, there it was, and, every time, the sea turtles were exactly right, for they had broke surface exactly, precisely, at the best spot on any particular wave prior to it coming. From this, I learned to sense the waves, to feel them, to know what felt right and what feeling right felt like.

Along this line, I learned to call the waves. Out of a flat sea even. Now sure, I could go into the extreme details of how to do this, but it's rather complicated to present them all at once, so, the way it basically works is that you work with the Chi, as I've been saying, and you create a Yang or energetic collection of water and wind, out there. With this intense focus on a single spot, one swirls or spirals the Chi tighter and tighter and tighter, just the same way you do it when you're healing a broken bone. And you keep doing it, packing the Chi into this distant tiny singular spot, until, it is overwhelmed with energy. And then, you can feel it, sense it when it is ready. And, you track it with your eyes and senses, feeling it come closer, until finally, the wave breaks right where you are exactly. I did this exercise with my Surfing Mentor and Watergirl Mentor Darrick Doerner (DD). We were having small 2 foot or so waves, wave after wave after wave, and he was so hoping for the seas to rise up so his student, me, could get a nice ride and some great practice. And he told me he wanted a 6 foot wave to rise right before us, literally touching the tails of our boards, and rise to 6 foot high and to break right on his head!!!  His head, of all things. "I want it to break right here, right on my head, right now." And so, sitting on my board, I extended my arm towards the distant sea, pointed my palm, for the center of the palm is one of the 5 major spots on the body for Projecting and Absorbing Chi, and, I called the wave, telling him, it would be here in moments. And, the wave came, and right at the tails of our boards, it rose above us as we sat there, and it lifted our tails and then, it broke, right on DD's head.  Literally. As that was happening, I dropped down the face, had a nice little fun ride, and quickly paddled back out as  DD always taught me to do, ready to catch the next wave. And there he was, sitting there, my Mentor, looking, not impressed. Now, I was ecstatic, I was so stoked, I expected he'd leap off his board with excitement, and all he did, was look at me and said, "I was hoping for an 8 footer." I loved his understatement, for as a Teacher and Mentor, that is exactly what I hoped he'd do, at least, deep within my heart, because that's the kind of thing you'd get in martial arts training.  Once, I trained in Monkey Kung Fu, and my Sifu told me to leap as high as I could to try to grab some berries. I leaped hour after hour, day after day, trying to get the exact bunch he had pointed out for me, and, one day, they were within my grasp. And as I  came to the ground with the berries in my hand, expecting he'd be stoked, he simply looked at them like it was nothing, pointed higher in the tree and said, "now, pick that bunch."
For me both Mentors are the perfect kinds of teachers for my style of learning, they push me, drive me, call me to go beyond anything I could imagine, yet, have loving kind hearts and great senses of humor.

My point is, using Chi, I was able to call that wave, to fall directly on DD's head, exactly where we sat, exactly as high as he said, exactly when he asked me to show him how I did that.  And it's episodes and adventure like that which make me a Mysto Surfer.

I truly love being part of the Tribe, part of the group, I just love social interaction of every kind, yet, I have grown up on the outside, in the Wilds, not even on the road where one choses the path of left or right, but instead, bushwacking out in the loneliest and wildest of places. Unusual for many people, especially for a girl I'd imagine, but, simply the way it's been for me, due to circumstances.

It was even this way, back in Grand Haven, Michigan, during High School, long after I had made my first board, and surfed those cold waters with such joy. I wanted to surf with all of my heart, like the boys there, but, I was the girl. The girl with the funny looking home-made board, without even the sense to wax it at first, silly kook that I was. Such tales told about earlier in my blog in two sections or so. At any rate, I was a Mysto then, just as I am a Mysto now, not because I want to be, but, because, I am. For I know nothing else.

When I look at a surfboard, I'm not concerned with fancy boards, but with the energy of the board, like who made her,  how was she shaped, how are her lines and as such, my mind drifts to how such lines will dance with the ocean. I can be lost for hours, exploring a single board in a surf shop or at a shapers.

It's funny, life. We're often so drawn to that which we aren't or to that which we don't have. I suppose, to some, my style might seem exotic, or at least a bit different, and as such, it's possible there might be some who'd think such things are rather groovy. Yet, for me, to be part of The Tribe, to be in the Inner Circle, that to me is where the magic is. In the smiles and laughter and talk of others, in sharing their joy in watching them surf and surfing with them, and, in those special times, in their touch. Yes, my heart longs for such moments, I admit that. Such simple joys draw me.

Yet, my soul calls me to surf the wilds, to seek out the toughest places on the planet to get to, not for the adrenaline rush, for that is nothing compared to the feeling of Chi, but, for the Chi of it.

At the moment, I am thinking much of Vietnam. Hoping to learn the language at Christmas time by, if I am so blessed, getting one of those Rosetta Stone cd collections of learning Vietnamese. I love languages, especially the three I focus on,  namely Hawaiian, Surfish, and Pidgin. But now, I want to add Vietnamese to the list. For I am being called there. To surf, and, to explore and share my Chi. Of course, once there, I'm sure I'll find those places where few go, not because I intentionally seek them out, but because I sense them, feel them calling, and, as a Mysto, I can't resist their siren song.

And, what is a Mysto Surfer? Well, it's simply someone like me, who surfs mostly alone, even when in a group, who surfs for their own reasons. Reasons, that few would understand let alone care about. The Mysto Surfer is a rebel in a world of domesticated surfers, a wild one in a sea of acceptance to the rules and norms, a link back to the times of the Vagabond Feral Surfers of yesteryear, surfing, for deep personal reasons that even if they could be explained, probably, wouldn't be.

Interestingly enough, in my case, surfing as a Mysto comes about not only because for the most part nobody is generally around, especially in the worst of the Winter, but more so, quite frankly, I'm rather shy. Sure, I may write freely at times, but, in person, I'd probably be that girl, over there, absorbed in waxing her surfboard perfectly before each session, seeking, in the case of waxing, not simply to get wax on the board in a hurry, but more so, finding the spirituality and depth as well as historical nostalgia and Tribal memory of applying wax in an almost sacred kind of matter, truly, really caring about what I'm doing. And, that's the way of my surfing too. I explore each aspect of it, even while I'm riding a wave, pushing my boundaries, learning who I am and what I can do, learning from the sea and my board, all, lost purely in the love of the moment.

Bodaciously Stoked,

Lily of the Valley