Bali. Photo by Shawn Brooke.
I’m going to give this life a shot. I’m going to keep it up as long as I can. I share this with you not because I am extraordinary, or because my surfing is good enough to be important to you, but because of all the people along the way that said “wow, I’ve always wanted to do what you’re doing Evan. I’ve always wanted to quit my job and go surfing, or sailing, or rock-climbing, go here or there [or insert your life’s passions here].” This is for all the people that sent me emails saying “I wish I could do that, but I can’t because I am
I’m not extraordinary; I’m just a normal guy with the same fears and anxieties as you. Dane Reynolds- one of the world’s most extraordinary surfers-said it best in a message to his fans explaining why he was walking away from the World Championship Tour in the prime of his career to go chase waves as he sees fit, rather than the way that competition judges see fit. He said “I have a heart and I have bones and muscle and skin and eyes and teeth. I have emotions. Sometimes I act according to emotions. Sometimes I think and make a conscious decision.” In other words, he has ten fingers, ten toes, and two eyes, just like you and just like me. Dane made a conscious decision to pursue what makes him happy. We all have a god given right to pursue what makes us happy, and not sponsors, nor fear, greed, bosses, ‘career paths,’ mortgages, girlfriends, boyfriends, parents, or spouses should ever stop us from that pursuit. We have one life. We have a right to do everything in our power to make it a happy one. I am going to do my best to continue to do that, I am going to try to do that-with no guarantees that I will succeed of course.
Dane is an extraordinary surfer to say the least. He is the Picasso of our sport, his work speaks for itself, and his work does not need a judge to tell us that it is innovative, creative, or important. His work says that, his surfing says that. He’s not going to lose sponsorships or paychecks because he’s not competing anymore; he is a brilliant enough surfer that he will still sustain himself simply by surfing. I don’t know Dane, but I would be willing to speculate that if he were to read this, he would want to make the stipulation that he is just a normal guy, and he obviously is. We are all just people with 10 fingers and 10 toes. But Dane is an extraordinary surfer. I am not Dane. I am not extraordinary. I am an everyday surfer. I am an everyday guy, and because people will not pay an ordinary every day guy to surf, I will have to find other ways to support myself and my surfing habit. That’s where the experiment part comes in.
My goal for my life is to be free to chase waves full time. My goal in the interim is to do whatever it takes to chase waves to the best locations in the world as much as possible while working towards the aforementioned goal. That means work-some form of work. I’ve never changed my life like this before; I can’t say that I’ve ever changed my life period. So I’m not sure exactly how I’m going to do it or if it will even work, but I want to do it. I want to try to make it work.
The idea of making the shift was inspired by a visit to a beautiful nature reserve in South Africa, a place that has nothing to do with surfing, but would have never seen if it wasn’t for surfing. I was inspired by all the things that surfing had given me, things which have nothing to do with surfing. Surfing had brought me to this place in South Africa which inspired me, surfing had brought me together with the friends that would bring me to South Africa, surfing had shown me so much along the way, so many great experiences that happen in the pursuit of waves in far off places in third world countries, things that I would never experienced otherwise. Surfing is a gift that brings many other unforeseen gifts.
I had been away from home for four months when I arrived in South Africa and walked through that nature reserve, and I had the beginnings of new life-new friends with shared passions, friends that I consider brothers, new perspectives, and new goals-although I didn’t know it. I was smiling a lot. I never smiled in my Old Life. I was still trying to make sense of it all. I had seen places that I never would have seen without surfing and made friends with people that I never would have met without surfing. I thought about how much my life had changed in four months and wondered what would happen if I kept this up for another four months, or another year, or forever? What direction would my life go? Would chasing waves become my life? Could chasing waves become my life? I had followed my heart for four months and it had worked out. But what if…what if I kept going? What if, instead of returning to my old life as an office robot working in the commercial real estate business, I kept chasing waves? What other great things would I see that I never would have expected to see? What other opportunities would I be lucky enough to come across that I wouldn’t have otherwise? What happens when you do whatever it takes to do what you love? What happens when you live your life by following your heart?
I wondered what would happen if I kept going? What if I did whatever it took to get back to Indo to chase the best waves in the world once again for the 2012 season? How much would my life change if I took it that much further? It had changed so much in four months, what would happen over the course of a year? Two? Three? What other great unexpected things would come into my life along the journey in pursuit of waves? What if I kept doing that? Could I keep doing that? Is it even possible? What if…what if…a person lives his life based on what he loves?
It sounds so cliché. Follow your heart-it sounds like something your mother tells you just before she tells you to “go do your homework so you can get a good job.” I mused on this idea for three months while traveling around S Africa. Phil Nel, my South African brother from a different mother, and his wonderful wife Lara encouraged me. We discussed the idea for hours on end repeatedly, over and over. Without them, without their abundance of optimism and positive energy this idea would have surely died a quick death, or at least slowly withered away under the pressure of 29 years of living in an environment where ‘careers,’ and “success” are all that matters, and living like a career robot is the norm. They were inspired by the thought as much as I was, if not more, and that made me think. Such good people couldn’t be wrong. If they’re excited, maybe there’s something to this? Maybe I should consider this?
I’m changing my life for me, but I am writing this for you. So many people in our generation are stuck in a rut. I was stuck in a rut, and it’s a rut that I am still struggling to break free of. It’s a rut that I’m not sure I will ever completely break free of.
