May 14, 2014

 Life has been hectic, it has not gone my way these past couple of months. I haven't written on here in a while but today I became inspired to write again. So let me update all of you on life's curve balls its thrown at me. First off, my plans to move to Hawaii have been pushed back, I didn't do well at all at the Belmar Pro last September, I'm working on a documentary about surfing around the world, and I've gotten into photography. I graduate high school in about a month, and recently we had to write our senior farewells. It got me thinking, the past four years of my life i viewed this building as a prison, but in reality it is just a place for opportunity, it all depends on your outlook. I can't even begin to explain how excited i am to graduate, and finally live my life. To go out into the world, explore new places, meet new people, and love everything that life throws at me. I'm currently hoping to travel to the Philippines this August for a surf trip, and my stoke about that is out of this world. I researched the travel time which is about 42 hours, which sounds crazy, but I am super excited. Hopefully my parents are on board with it! But the moral of this post is that even though things did not work out the way I had once planned, it doesn't mean that life's greater plan for me is any worse. Yeah maybe my dream got pushed back, but that does not mean it will never happen, and it does not mean that i will ever give up. I'm excited to share my journeys with you all!

August 21, 2013

     I haven't posted in a while so let me update you all on my surfing activities!
I got a new board! her name is Helena! shes a 6'3 Canyon with future fins that somewhat glow in the dark and i absolutely love it. I also have my first surf competition in 22 days that I'm scared beyond anything for. I'm surfing against the best female on the east coast. I know already that i wont win, and I'm completely okay with this. Its really just about my own personal best. Plus i get to miss school so that's always fun! Two weeks ago when i surfed a secret location I was out in the lineup waiting for a wave and i saw this curly haired guy who looked familiar, i watched as he painted the waves with his passion and love. Five minutes later i realized it was Rob Kelly! Who would've thought i of all people got to see him in person! I was so stoked and i loved watching all his techniques. I've never been so fascinated. But what i realized afterwards is that he's just like everyone else out there. Where all out here for the same reason. Its our safe place. The place where no problems, no anger, no sadness exists. Where all here to escape these demons. Where all here to live. I hope everyone who reads this has at least one place like this. One place to call your own safe haven. If you don't, then i hope you find that place one day. Don't give up.

• "It's the reason i go to bed before it's fully dark and wake up every morning before dawn. It is why the prevailing winds are my preferred topic of conversation and a wetsuit my most consistent fashion statement. It is the one thing I do not actually own because it owns me. It is the next wave. And it is mine."-Unknown

• "Moments are determined by how we define them. Find a good ride in every wave"

• “As a tribe, surfers are all after something the normal man in the street doesn’t have a bloody clue about…we know we’re into something different.” — Nat Young

May 3, 2013

 So recently i have decided that i am officially entering the Belmar Pro 2013 in September. It scares me because i know their is kids my age who have been working all year for this. But for me i don't think its just about winning. I know winning is a far shot for me, but what i do know is that i won't give up, or let this intimidate me. I'm gonna try to make it as far as possible. I know one thing that I'm 100% positive about, and that is that i will not give up. I won't let the fear over take my mind. I believe that fear is a natural emotion, you should have fears if you are human. But that doesn't mean you let them stop you from doing what you love. I hope whoever is reading this, doesn't let fear stop you from trying something new, or even continuing something you once loved. Don't stop, and do it for yourself.

Quotes of the Week:

• "Surfing's one of the few sports that you look ahead to see what's behind"-Laird Hamilton

• "Surfing, alone among sports, generates laughter at its very suggestion, and this is because it turns not a skill into an art, but an inexplicable and useless urge into a vital way of life"-Matt Warshaw

• "Surfing is the most blissful experience you can have on this planet, a taste of heaven" -John McCarthy

April 20, 2013

 The past few weeks I've been starting to feel discouraged. I kept asking myself "why am i doing this?" "why do i want this so badly" at first not knowing these answers scared the living shit out of me, but then i realized. I want this so badly because I want to show kids, teens, adults all around the world that if you truly set your mind to something you really can achieve it. You need to work hard, and not stop until you are where you want to be. There's no breaks. I want to show them that it does not matter where you come from, what town you're from, what others think of you, its about you, and how badly you want your dreams. If i could give any advice to anyone reading this post right now it would be not to give up on your dreams no matter what age you are, or where you are living, or even where you are in life. Do not give up, you can achieve it, i promise you.

Qutoes of the Week:

• "It's like the mafia. Once you're in - your in. There's no getting out"-Kelly Slater

• "I've committed to surfing the rest of my life"-Lance Armstrong

• "Surfing soothes me, it's always been a kind of Zen experience for me. The ocean is so magnificent, peaceful, and awesome. The rest of the world disappears for me when I'm on a wave"-Paul Walker

April 7, 2013

 As a kid my mother always told us "if you really want something, you'll make it happen." Now as a young kid I never really understood what she meant. I thought it was ridiculous that as a mother she wouldn't help me achieve my goals that I wanted, I thought that's what mothers where suppose to do. But more recently I'm discovering what she really meant. As young kids we have goals, thousands of them, but if we really want them we need to make them happen ourselves. Our mom, dad, sister, brother, grandma, grandpa, etc. will not be holding our hands every step of the way. If we really want this "something" then we won't settle for less, we won't get side tracked, and we won't give up. This is one of the most important lessons I believe we learn through our journey of life. I am starting to realize this now, i want to go to college in Hawaii more than I have ever wanted anything in the world. When I tell people though I don't think they realize how determined I am to get myself there. They just respond with "oh cool" or maybe they laugh because they think I don't realize its not a vacation there. Now if you're one of these people I just want you to know this, I am not giving up until I get there, and I WILL find a way because  I know that is where I belong, where my soul belongs. And to my mom, thank you for teaching me this lesson, with out you I wouldn't be as strong as i am today!

 Quotes of the Week:

• "Life is like the ocean. Waves will try to knock you down and push you back to where you started but once you fight through them, the entire ocean is yours."-Unknown

• "Just paddling out into big surf is a total commitment. You can't just call time-out and stroll on into the beach if you don't like the way things are going."-Unknown

• “We all come from the sea, but we are not all of the sea. Those of us who are, we children of the tides, must return to it again and again, until the day we don’t come back leaving only that which was touched along the way.” — Frosty Hesson 

March 30, 2013

 If you've come to this page maybe you're asking yourself "what am i doing here?" "why am i reading this?" Well let me tell you that this is my story. It's my journey through the surfing world, and my thoughts. So if you're reading this and that doesn't interest you, let me just tell you this, this is more then just some sport to me, its more then paddling out and catching a  wave, its my safe place and i love every second of it. I love paddling out, waiting for the right wave, meeting the new people. i love the wipe outs, the injuries, the fear and vulnerability. But most of all i love the feeling it gives me. The feeling of freedom. The feeling of not being judged by this crucial world, not having to meet anyone's standards. Where school, and social lives don't matter. The place i can turn to when my inner demons try to get to me, the place i can just feel normal. So if you have this anywhere in your life (which i hope each and every one of you do) hopefully you can relate to my posts on here. For this week I'll leave you guys with these two quotes to think about until next week

• “There are no more committed people on the planet than surfers. We fall down a lot. We turn around, paddle back out, and do it over and over again. Unlike anything else in life, the stoke of surfing is so high that the failures quickly fade from memory." - Gary Sirota 

•  "For those searching for something more than just the norm. We lay it all down, including what others call sanity, for just a few moments on waves larger than life. We do this because we know there is still something greater than all of us. Something that inspires us spiritually. We start going down hill, when we stop taking risks.”-Laird Hamilton 

one last thing, if you guys would like to check out this video of Andy Irons. I promise it is one of the most inspiring videos. Rest in peace Andy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5u0X3lhBHDY