The space in between....

Firstly here is Australian prime minister Julia Gillard putting a misogynist in his place. What. A. Woman. 

Julia Gillard Speech 

Lim-i-nal-i-ty Liminality

noun Anthropology.

the transitional period or phase of a rite of passage, during which the participant lacks social status or rank, remains anonymous, shows obedience and humility, and follows prescribed forms of conduct, dress, etc.

We've talked of Liminality before. I've used it to describe the wilderness of our twenties, those years of profound 'what will I do with my life' questions, of being broke, being a dogsbody  whilst also having the time of your life. Initially I used it perhaps in a negative light seeing it as something to endure rather than experience. However this notion is changing, the space between failure and success is probably the most important time you can go through, this is where you find out what your really made of. Therefore I'd like to retract my earlier opinions on Liminality and suggest that actually its probably one of the best phases to endure. Ride the wave. 

So this week I've been refusing to succumb to illness attending to my to do list with vigor which goes a little something like this. Internship. Check. Meetings for refugee job. Check. Social Enterprise meeting. Check. Workshops. Check. Copious amounts of affection for my returned boyfriend. Check and check!! 

I can barely talk about my social enterprise idea for fear of it not happening (and wanting it too so badly)! But all in all my idea of surfing for inner city kids has gone down really well. Now comes the hard part (Liminality! I've got to research my ass off and convince non surfers that this is actually a good thing to do. I've also been convinced to not open a cafe but instead do wholesale vegan/surf inspired cakes. At first I balked at the lovely Mark's suggestion (my adviser), but now I think its the best thing he could have suggested. I've never wanted to be tied down to something static, being wholesale means I can indulge in my passion for vegan baking. Anywhere. Oh yes siree. 

Beach anyone? 

Here's someone doing exactly what I aspire to do in a slightly sunnier location. Inspirational. 

Streetwaves from Michael McCabe on Vimeo.

Catch you later folks! 

To be a weathered woman

Rosita Forbes (1920)

To be a weathered woman 
To have raised my eyes to a thousand skies, 
to have met both storms and horizons 
but discovered the sunrise was within me. 

To be a weathered woman
nostrils flared to scrub, pine and ocean air.
Sea salt crystals on eyelashes 
Limbs chiseled by ocean exertion 
Waves. Always waves. 

To be a weathered woman 
slack jawed from humor, laughter lines, chin jutted out in defiance
and hinged in humility. 
Undulating contours all shades of woman.

To be a weathered woman 
womb stretched taunt by babes of love
Two cultures entwined, us architects of hope. 
Ducks to be fed on days of insignificance 
Dogs and music, parties and mud. 

To be a weathered woman 
Arms out stretched to the world 
Handshakes with shamans, chiefs, wives 
all genres of person. 
Friends in unfamiliar places.  

To be a weathered woman 
To be all that I am.
And to conclude being all that I could be. 

A poem by Sophia Hobbs 

*Shout out to Sam Bleakley

I need to say a humongous thank you to Sam for his amazing career/life advice and for the two wonderful books 'Surfing Brilliant Corners' and 'Surfing Tropical Beats' he recently sent me. Both have been devoured during my commute and have filled my head with dreams and possibilities. He's a European Long-board champ, travel writer, family man AND an all round nice guy. Thank you Sam! 

And Finally...

 

...Why British surfers are more hardcore than you think. 

Some winter inspiration! 

Embracing the random

Rockaway Taco, A Selby Film from the selby on Vimeo. 

[Inspiration]

So I've had something of an Renaissance in terms of thinking. For so long I've been focusing on the things I'm lacking i.e. full time employment, money, my own place, the biggest quandary being 'Why am I not being hired for the jobs I want?' 
This is the wrong question to be asking as it focuses too much on external factors. What I should be asking is 'what opportunities can I seize?' 

Sometimes through embracing the random we develop and create something far surpassing our earlier expectations. Take for instance the following example. From an early age I wanted to be a vet and for several years this was my chief aim in life. I got as far as college and began to realize there was no hope in hell that I'd make the cut. Quite randomly my biology teacher at the time suggested I enter an essay competition to win a summer school place with the London Natural History Museum, to learn about conservation. Lo and behold I won a place. Random. 
The experience fueled an interest in Wildlife Conservation which led me to university, to working in Africa and exposed me to the plight of people living in poverty. Now my interests lie in sustainable development, how can we help people living in poverty whilst protecting the environment? 

So you see I'm looking at the current lack of employment as an opportunity, a sign if you will, that my attention should lie elsewhere. I began working with refugee youth because I looked outside my peripheral and saw something that I could throw my heart and soul into. Now its one of the highlights of my week. 

It got me thinking about community. Surfing got me thinking. And suddenly there was something tangible. I'm setting up a social enterprise because I need a purpose but more importantly because we should all care about our own communities. 

This is the basic premise: 

We'll take disadvantaged inner city kids (refugees, asylum seekers, delinquents and below the poverty line youth) on surf weekends in the UK. Surfing has such positive impacts not only because of the interaction with nature but in building confidence in the individual. The enterprise part of the equation will come from Birmingham's first and only 'landlocked surf cafe' where I'll teach yoga, sell vegan cakes, have surf movie nights and community art groups. 

So what do you think? 

This idea might not get through past the planning stage, the paper work, or even survive its first year of business. But you know what I have a vision and this, I feel, is the most important part. I've got to give it a go. 

Why not? 

The problem with hard work.

the cure for everything is saltwater.

sweat, tears and the ocean.

Ever noticed how in feel good films when the main character strives to achieve something, the hard work part tends to be a four shots montage? Cue emotional music, scenes of sunrise, shadows against sunset and high fives...

The hard work part lasts all of about ten seconds and voila, hero is suddenly skilled and goes onto win the game/girl/day.

This is no better illustrated in the film Point Break, a surf movie which I admit to loving (despite never having actually watched the end). Keanu Reeve's character Johnny Utah learns to surf in what looks like a day, with the help of gorgeous surf girl Tyler (played by Lori Petty).

This delusional idea of being able to surf in a short amount of time accompanied me to Senegal, where I worked as a yoga teacher for three months. I thought by the end of my stay I'd practically be a surfer.

I was not.

In fact I was possibly worse, because I inherited 'the fear' having had a board whack me in the face splitting my lip and numerous waves hold me under. Surfing is difficult and beginners can often reach a plateau after initial jubilation subsides. I got frustrated and still do. I know the basics i.e. where your feet are supposed to land and that paddling is the most important part, but the consistently standing up part eludes me.

Lets be honest. Surfing is cool. The people who do it are cool and they make it look cool. So you'll forgive me for thinking that it takes ahem *balls, to paddle out into a line up knowing your going to look like a toddler taking its first steps, when you try and catch a wave.

Whatever your putting your heart into it takes hard work and commitment. At the moment I'm not in a situation where I can go surfing everyday, so with hard work and determination I need to/can amend this.

Being a 'youth of today' I can identify with the now culture we seem to have, we want things yesterday. The achievements and goals we aspire to we want immediately, which combined with a recession don't make for good feelings. I've been chastising myself for not having things sussed when in actuality what I need to do is find a passion (i.e. surfing) and work dam hard to achieve it.

If this means slogging my guts out as a dogsbody then so be it, because every stage of the journey leading up to success is important in the grand scheme of your life.

Don't give up kids. Keep on working.

I've not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that don't work

- Thomas Edison

The trees, the flowers and the seas are the answer.

The purpose of our lives is to be happy…
The Dalai Lama

Well now, there's nothing nice or original about a post graduate bemoaning her lot, therefore I shall stop!

The trees, the flowers and the seas are the answer.  

Some inspiration:

1. www.theseakin.com 

2. www.thedailylama.net

  

Peace, good karma and all that jazz my friends...

*Seeking

'Call him a slow learner, "retarded" and write him off as ineducable and you have an Albert Einstein.'

- Phillip Baker

'Never, never, never, never give up'

- Winston Churchill

There was a girl I  used to know. She always had ambitions and did not let poor grades, social ostracising or any other problems hinder her momentum. This girl took risks, travelled when people told her she was too young and too vulnerable as a woman to do so. She loved voraciously and though sometimes fearful, she overcame the interior voices which tried to hold her back.

This girl is was me.

Lately I've felt so lost. Continued striving to find full time employment has left me feeling disillusioned and uninspired. You see for most of my life I've been conditioned by the doctrine of 'Achieve,' the endless pursuit of 'something' we're made to strive for in Western education. So naturally when my academic pilgrimage failed to deliver fruition I've struggle to define who I am and what my place is in the world.  

Our externalised living fails to appreciate the most basic of understandings, as said by Zig Ziglar;

'we are all endowed with the seeds of greatness...'

We all have something to contribute to our society to better change our world and make a positive lasting impact. For the last few weeks I admit to feeling completely lost. I don't know what I want anymore, what's my niche, what's my specialism?

I realise this is part the battle, acknowledging that something needs to change within my life and it starts with where I decide to dedicate my energy. I need to find my passion again.

Distance from my Buddhist practises has perhaps helped me forget that externalised living e.g. wealth, status, accolades never delivers true happiness. We are human beings therefore we must be.

'Character is all about being...doing is simply the reflection of our inner core...'  

You may have noticed a distinct lack of posts about surfing recently too. This is largely down to two things:

1) My current land locked status

2) Not wanting to dwell on being land locked.

If I think about my lack of surfing too much I become like the dog with a flea behind the ear. I can't hack the longing and the feeling that I'm wasting valuable surfing time.

This anxiousness has been really well investigated by the following article in the San Diego Reader >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

The Selfish Pursuit

Consistently chastitsing myself for not surfing and not having a full time job is not a healthy pastime. So instead I'm going to try and take a different tact.

Firstly I'm going to pick a niche. I'm going to do brain storms, have long walks, talks, I'm going to do everything possible to discover my passions again, my dreams.

Alongside this I'm going to rediscover my Buddhism, I need to reacquaint myself with my practise and appreciate the importance of cultivating inner contentment as opposed to focusing on my current situation.

Thirdly I'm going to find a job, any job and not be ashamed that its not exactly my career aspiration, as long as I'm working towards something then the graft is merely an essential step towards attaining that goal.

And finally I am going to remember to find joy in being, of enduring and never giving up:

'Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired and success achieved'

- Helen Keller

P.s. A surf film to inspire...

Stoking the fire

After a fairly uninspired week this story has rejuvenated me!

Easkey Britton makes surf waves in Iran