Get busy living or get busy dying.
I’ve got a friend who is a slave to the internet. She’s a slave to her phone, her laptop, her iPad. She’s a slave to anything with a connection to the vast, sometimes filthy rabbit hole that exists inside her devices, really. She’s also prone to bouts of crippling depression, and her slavery exacerbates her depression. I don’t think she’s even been diagnosed with it, and from what I’ve seen, at least, it’s easily fixed by a few hours of sunshine, activity, and friendship. She also absolutely rips on a surfboard–any kind of surfboard. She has a jammy, aggressive style on a shortboard, she’s fluid and smooth on a single fin, and cruisey and stylish on a longboard, with a serious penchant for nose riding. When she manages to tear herself away from the sweaty little internet hole she spends most of her time in, that is.
She, like many others including myself, I suspect, is really good at convincing herself that spending a few hours in bed scrolling through feeds instead of getting up and doing something is ok every now and then. And it is… every now and then. But most of the time, that lends itself to more and more time spent hammering through Instagram feeds, commenting on meaningless articles about meaningless things, and watching countless videos of crazy Russian kids climbing things. After a while, she’ll find that she’s been doing that for days on end. The only time she manages to drag herself away is when the waves are absolutely pumping. The rest of the time, she seems depressed and antsy, desperate for something else to do, but lacking the motivation to do it. All it requires, at least from an outsiders’ perspective, is simple: do something else. Like surfing, even if the waves are shit. Sitting on a surfboard is a thousand times better than sitting on the internet. Here are three reasons why.
1. The best surf clip in the world pales in comparison to surfing.
It’s easy to get caught up in watching surf clips. Dream waves, incredible surfers, even more incredible destinations. Far better waves and places than what–unless you’re very, very lucky–lies outside your door. But, as everyone knows from experience, a day spent surfing shitty waves is way better than a day spent watching good ones. Get out of the house. Drag yourself from your comfortable bed, throw a longboard in the vehicle, and paddle around. No waves at all? Who cares. Go diving. Go look at what’s underneath. Sit and float. Think about things. Laugh with other people who are floating around, as well. Look at the sky, touch the sand, pick up some garbage. Don’t sit in your own filth.
2. You’re a narcissist, and that’s bad.
Pretty much everyone has a little bit of narcissism inside them. It’s not a bad thing–at least not to a point. Praise feels good. Social media, though, heaps false praise on you. Facebook likes aren’t real likes; someone simply saw a picture you posted, clicked a button, and forgot all about it. Want people to be jealous of what you’re doing? GO DO COOL SHIT. Tell them about it when you see them. Sit at a table, look them in the eye, and talk story. But here’s the most important part: the praise shouldn’t even weigh into the equation. Do it because the doing is fun. You’ll remember what you did far longer than the person who liked your photo will remember the photo. Stifle those narcissistic tendencies. Although we all have them, it’s important to remember that self-fulfillment is infinitely better than the short-lived fulfillment you’ll get from someone else’s admiration. Admire yourself. Everyone will admire that.
3. You’re dying, and the internet is a waste of your life.
Unless you’re a Buddhist, Hindu, or a Sikh, you’ve only got one life to live. Yeah, that’s a cliché, but clichés generally come from truth. There are so many incredible things to immerse yourself in, and the internet is not one of them. Surfing is a life-long pursuit. I read something Kelly Slater said on Stab a while back: “You should improve forever and it should be the body failing that holds you back. Hopefully, we can all add layers and layers to what we already know.”
That holds true for a lot of things in life, and it lends itself to another cliché: anything worth doing isn’t easy. That fleeting gratification you get from a like or a comment? It’s bullshit compared to the gratification you get from learning. Spend your life learning new things. Spend it having fun. Spend it learning to have more fun–because that’s what we’re all here to do, anyway. My mum is a very smart woman. A while ago, we had one of those deep conversations about what we’re doing here on earth, a meaning of life conversation. My mum’s response, summed up by me: “We’re here by accident. There’s no point. You’re going to die and everyone’s going to forget about you in a hundred years, so you might as well spend your life having fun.”
And while that may be a bit of a fatalist attitude, I fully subscribe to it. Don’t be like my friend, because even she doesn’t want to be like her. Do things that make you feel good. Do nice things for strangers. Surf until you can’t surf anymore, even when the surf sucks. Work hard, reap the rewards, and for God’s sake, close your computer, turn off your phone, get off the internet, and get into the ocean.
