Joy Junket

Cherry Picking the Waves: How Surfing Taught Me To Be Patient.

Monday, August 29th, 2011

Bill Hamilton, Sava and me- photo Susan Honnell

From Sarah ~  The Jazz the Glass Retreat in Kauai Hawaii that I created with Susan Honnell and Tami McCall turned out to be an absolutely amazing experience for me!  We set out to take visionary Women-   Mavericks, the Bad Asses and Honey Badgers on this trip to connect to Nature, Spirit and (of course)  to bend the rules,  and play outsde of the fences of our ordinary lives.   Boy did it deliver, for me.

To be in Hanalei on Kauai is to be in a Bohemian Wonderland where the most clothes that people seem to be sporting are a bathing suit and maybe a shirt or sundress.  We even spotted a guy pumping gas on the highway in his Speedo.   Shoes are optional, tattoos are def. recommended.    Breakfast consisted of green smoothies at the local co-op and we packed up lunch in the cooler and headed for the beach.

We had planned to do Stand up Paddle boarding-  which we did up the Hanalei River and it was fabulous.  One of the unexpected (those are the best, right?) peaks, for me,  was learning to surf.

That very first day, it seemed daunting to paddle out on these large long boards to the place where the waves were breaking.  One of my co-hosts, Susan Honnell,  was an awesome guide and assured me that I could handle it.  Once we got out there were these small waves breaking perfect for a novice.  So I got into position as Susan had taught me and waited for the waves.  The first one I decided to go for I threw myself on the board and then (as instructed) paddled like a bat out of hell-  but missed it.  Then Susan pushed me onto the next one.  It felt different.   Instead of  feeling the wave sink and crumble beneath me….all of a sudden it was like this huge surge of power right under me and I stopped paddling and was hurtling along with no effort at all.  The, I leaped up,  into my karate stance,  (again- thanks Susan!) and I was up – flying along the water and I cannot even really explain how fun it was.  When it petered out-  I flopped into the water and could not wait to get back in the line up to catch another.

I surfed and tried to surf so many waves in the ensuing  6 days.    My leg and hip got so badly bruised (from slamming myself onto the board to get ready) that I looked a bit of a wreck.   I could not have cared less.  I even had a heck of a hematoma going on my right hand.  It was so much fun,  I was not going to let it stop me.  My body (at night) was like-  oh wow-  all over body workout and exhaustion-  yet as soon as I had stretched and had a cup of coffee I was like-  gotta get out and Jazz some glass!

What I noticed was the second day its started getting more difficult to catch a wave. It think beginners luck has something to do with “non-attachment’  because I didn’t really know if I would ever be able to catch a wave on that first day.  By the second day (knowing what it felt like to “catch” a wave) I was greedy for waves.   I wanted to CATCH them all.  When I tried to do that what I found out is my “paddling arms” got so exhausted and I didn’t catch as many.

By the third day, I had an awesome chance to hang out and surf with Sava (see her vid below) , queen of the waves who’s owner Bill Hamilton (Yes-  Laird is his son, lol!) taught me a few things.  I told him my dilemma— it seems like I am not getting up on as many.  He said-  “you gotta cherry pick”.  Bill explained that you have to be patient and wait for the cherry to grow on the tree  and then only pick the ones that are ripe and sweet.  I was laughing out loud at the sexual and surfing metaphor in all of this.

Sure enough, as I began to really wait for the waves that looked ideal….I sort of thought they looked “crispy fried” and seemed to have a bit of a CRACKLE to them….if I got into position and paddled like a mad woman into it-  I caught them and oh man what a feeling it was.  There is nothing quite like catching a wave, we all agreed and now, I know I am not the only one who is addicted.

What a great metaphor for my business, my life (sexual and otherwise, lol) and  in general….to wait for the best wave- the one that is ripe for my picking .  That way, I conserve energy and if I do succeed-  WOW what a treat I am in for.    You don’t catch every opportunity you paddle out to but, looking for the crispy delicious ones sure increases your chances.  What does your ideal wave look like in your life?

**We plan to Jazz the Glass Again in 2012-  so send me an email if you would like to hear more when we launch!  ~Sarah

Tags: aggro, bad ass, bill, board, dog, glass, hamilton, hanalei, hanalei bay, jazz, kauai, mavericks, metaphor, nature, novice, retreat, sarah seidelmann, sava, shaper, surf, surfing, susan honnell, the, visionary, wave, waves, women
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