Is Surfing a Subversive Activity?

With a full day ahead of me, I realized if I was going to get any exercise in for the day it would need to be early. I decided I should beat the traffic and arrived at the office, aka, school early. I put on my walking shoes and head phones a little annoyed that I didn't have enough time to walk the loop in my neighborhood. Full disclosure: the walk near work offers me an unadulterated view of the Pacific Ocean. I remind myself of that fact on a regular basis and yet—there's something to be said for creature comforts—or in this case, my signature stroll.

I made my way toward Ocean Beach with 30 minutes to spare. It was slightly gray and a little cold, with no wind to be found. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught sight of something I had never seen before: a surfer with a board attached to his bicycle. Riding his bi-ped in a wet suit, I found the physics of this feat to be one of the coolest things I've ever seen. I thought to myself,  Nice. What a perfect way to start the day. I envy this man. Freedom and fun. Let's go!

Later in the day, I walked behind the school building; from this perch one can still see the Pacific. For some reason, that surfer came to mind. A burning question popped into my head. I needed an answer. I wondered, Is surfing a subversive activity?

I started to consider the ways I think it might be. You're going to tell me that a human being can enter into that vast pull and power of the ocean and work with it for no other purpose than enjoyment. Seems daring. Pretty ridiculous. Totally scary. Rather improbable and yet magnificent.

Let me be clear, no government is or ever will be overthrown by surfers or an organized union of them. Why not? Because part of surfing is that its very nature defies organization. For example, the name of the popular movie "Soul Surfer" actually describes philosophical and spiritual concept first developed and introduced in the 1960s to define the sport - or activity - in its purest form.

As written in "Twelve Signs You Know You're a Soul Surfer," 

As with many other sports, there is always an innate drive to seek and find the original and unadulterated values, virtues, and essence of something simultaneously special and fragile.

The roots of surfing are rich and culturally significant.

The practice of riding waves blends utility and pleasure, necessity and joy, and has been socially adopted by Polynesian and Peruvian societies for thousands of years.

So, when the sport of surfing became a commercial hit in the Southern California beach culture, some felt the need to detach themselves from the profit-oriented side that quickly emerged from it.

Surfing purists are often called soul surfers.

The expression "soul surfer" was first used to name a song by Johnny Fortune (1943-2006), a surf guitar hero from Warren, Ohio.

Soul surfers are the guardians of the ultimate joy of walking on water.

They (aim to) represent the sport's counterculture; they're an informal army of unarmed soldiers or missionaries that remind us of what, in the end, surfing is all about.

"Never defined by tenets or principles, soul surfing nonetheless came into its own in the mid-and late-1970s as the catchall opposition philosophy to professional surfing, which encompassed not only prize money competition but much of the surf industry and surf media," notes Matt Warshaw, author of "The Encyclopedia of Surfing."

Whether or not that man with the board on a bike is a full fledged soul surfer, in the Outer Sunset, there is the sent that surfers surf for joy, to connect to nature. They surf to be part of a community, to live a life less ordinary. As written in Soul & Surf, "They don’t surf as a sport to win prizes... it's a little bit more spiritual than that. It is a complete and consuming immersion in nature, a submission to the whims of a set of corduroy lines determined by a pressure system in a faraway ocean. It is soul and life and compassion and style – and a glimmer of connection to the present moment that is addictive and extraordinary and essential." In short, they surf for the stoke.

Ocean Beach, San Francisco

And this is what I find subversive. In a culture obsessed with measurement and gain, rankings and titles, surfing stands somewhat singular. It says "try me" on a whim and a dare. It brings a man or woman, teen and a few elders into the chilly ocean—saltwater and all—offrring but a  simple message: enjoy. You may or may not agree with my deducction, but it's hard to deny: surfing certainly is spiritual.

I can't join these soul surfers (I did ask my caridologist) but please know, I nod and bow to those of you looking for but one thing on a Monday, Wednesday or Saturday morning: the perfect wave. 

I'll end with the closure of a former surfing club president wrote on his emails: stay stoked. I mean it.

Photo Credits
Ocean Beach
Bike 
Local Surfers

Overrated: Sports as a School of Virtue...?

Sports are a real school of true human virtue. –John Paul II

Who am I to disagree with (now) Blessed John Paul II, but have your ever thought we put too much power and pressure on sports as a moral training ground? We hope that our favorite athletes will serve as role models; we want our coaches to teach us skills, devise game plans and assemble a group of athletes that really believes that there is no “I” in team. We want to know that under pressure we will show integrity, exhibit courage and be selfless; we know sports will reveal this. When it comes to athletics, have we become overly concerned with both the inner and outer scorecard? Does it carry more weight than it should?

To a large extent, I hope it does. Pope Benedict the XVI stated Sport possesses considerable educational potential particularly for young people. So, for this reason, sport is of great importance not only when applied to free time but also in the formation of each individual. And yet, I wonder, does everything, including our leisure as sport need to be viewed as a means to an end? I think Patrick Kelly provides an interesting answer.

In his article Experiencing Life’s Flow, Kelly says The word autotelic is derived from the Greek words auto, self, and telos, goal, and suggests that the goal is within the activity itself. In terms of sports, the games would be played for their own sake. This emphasis differs from what is usually set forth as a rationale for the value of sports for young people: that participation in sports will build character or help prepare them for life or for competition in the business world. Some parents and young people also view sports as a way of gaining upward mobility. Usually the emphasis is on some goal outside the activity of sport; little attention, however, is given to the enjoyment of the activity itself.

I know parents who have given their children fencing lessons because the elite sport is popular at many Ivy League colleges. Experience in fencing was a means to an end—a distinctive edge on a college application. Upward mobility in a nutshell. Yet, let's be honest. Most people learn and participate in a sport for the enjoyment of it.

I think the movie “Soul Surfer” is an accurate description of autotelos. This movie, still in some theaters is about the life of surfer Bethany Hamilton, who lost her left arm in a shark attack when she was 13 years old. The title is a word play on the term soul surfer, coined in the 1960s to denote someone who surfs purely for pleasure. As Bethany learns to live with one arm, she learns a whole lot about herself as she struggles to determine what is more important—winning or the sport itself. Surfing and surfers are like no other. It’s innately spiritual; they are too.

I believe autotelos could apply to the spiritual life as well. We hope that our commitment to prayer will lead to inner peace, that our prayers will be answered, that we will grow more patient and loving in the process of learning to trust God. And we should. Yet, can we come to recognize that time with God in prayer is gift itself. To simply avail ourselves to God’ presence is to be with the source and center of life. Can we enjoy and appreciate just that? Ultimately, our commitment to deepening one’s relationship to God will bear great fruit. But can we be content with the grace of God in and of itself?

I wish our society shifted its mindset. It’s not easy to do. We love sports because of the clear answers they provide—win or lose, in or out, fair or foul, game on or time out. And we know the spiritual life doesn’t always give us the answers; all too often, the math doesn’t add up. But I do think the grace of a spiritual life is that it helps us live with the questions. And the grace of athletics is we really do have experiences that prove when tested, we can do that. When the questions are too difficult, we don’t face them alone. A team or coach and lift us up, above the hardwood or moral training ground. Take your pick.

Photo Credits
John Paul II hosts a mass for athletes
No "I" in "Team" shirt
Soul Surfer Movie Poster
The real Soul Sufer!