California, San Diego, Hawaii, Honolulu in Oahu, I often went surfing alone. I always preferred being by myself.
I sometimes catch myself asking, "Does this feel right?" Like everyone else, I have many things that don't feel right. When that happens, I usually think I have two choices: 1) Keep trying until it feels right, or 2) Do something completely different. Back then, when I entered the latter zone, I was surfing a lot. (That's why! I was always surfing!) Honestly, if I stay in a place where it doesn't feel right, my only choice is to "struggle."
Surfing didn't become an "escape." Surfing is the ultimate recreation. But, you know, there are dangers, so training is necessary, daily physical maintenance is also needed, and you have to study and be able to read the weather and sea conditions, and so on, it's a lot. In terms of currents, the ocean in California is colder than in Japan. It's incredibly cold even in winter. I got up early on a cold morning and went out in sandals. I wonder why, even though no one pays me, I do this... Yes, yes, yes! I felt that, and something became clear. Something. That's what I wanted to write about today.
I needed to be in a mental state where I could immerse myself without expecting rewards or results. That's how I was back then. And, yes... that's how I am now. Being famous, getting paid, those things are less important than being immersed in something fun. That's the right state to be in, for me.
Barefoot in sandals on a cold winter day. Would warm UGG boots? It would have been nice to have boots that surfers often wear, but I preferred sandals. Walking barefoot on asphalt, you quickly lose sensation. You can step on sharp stones and be perfectly fine. There are rubber boots called booties for winter surfing, but I didn't wear them. I also didn't wear a rubber cap for my head for warmth because it looked uncool. When waiting for waves in offshore winds, I thought my head would freeze into icicles. But surfing was so fun that I didn't care about anything else. That's how I felt.
I think it's like that with anything.
If it's for something fun, you can endure hardship. The moment I felt this,
If you can grasp this feeling, you must never let it go.
That's what I think.
