HONOLULU

one of my major goals for the year was to learn how to surf. last year, in elle magazine, i think, i saw an amazing picture of the most peaceful woman riding an ocean wave and i was like, OH MY GOD! SURFING IS THE NEXT!!

i immediately recruited kfrock and we began planning a trip to costa rica where the surf diva's, an all womens surf camp, would teach us how to get down. the only problem was: i didn't know how to swim. which, to me, wasn't a problem. i mean, i've water skied, jet skied, rafted, and kayaked without knowing how. how deep could surfing be?

turns out, very deep. kealoha, the hawaii slam master, and his beautiful brother mike took me to the ocean and strapped a canoe sized surf board to my ankle. they were like, yo...you don't need to know how to swim, when you fall off, just grab the ankle strap and follow the line back to the board. the board will be your flotation device. you'll be fine.

er...yeah. the closer we got to the water the more questions i started asking, like: what if i die? and: are y'all trying to drown me??

i walked three feet out into the ocean with my surf board and decided that i should learn how to swim first (the ocean is mad scary). so kealoha took me to this little beach that was the ocean, walled into a pool by a stone cliff and he taught me how to swim! all the way. first i learned how to float. and then i learned how to tread water, then the crawl stroke and finally the breast stroke, which i can do for about 10 seconds at a time before i start complaining about how hard it is. it took me 7 minutes to jump off the cliff and into the water the first time, and about 10 or 15 minutes the second time. kealoha was so patient and loving! he jumped in first and then smiled up at me and encouraged me the entire time. he even climbed back up the cliff a few times to hold my hand as i made up my mind to jump. the little kids at the pool were cheering me on like, it's fun! don't worry! you'll be safe! come on! just jump! you can do it! here! watch me! SPLASH! SPLASH! SPLASH!!!

this is what i learned about myself:
1) it is uncomfortable for me to lose control of my body. to fly through the air with only kind eyes, water, and rocks to catch me..
2) letting go and trusting my teacher is hard.
3) i am afraid to be out of my element and i much prefer to be solidly planted on the ground where i know i can guide my movements.
4) ultimately i am adventurous and ready to transcend my limitations.
5) i have the absolute best luck with teachers in every area of my life.

give thanks to my master teacher kealoha wong for giving me the ocean!
give thanks to mama yehmaya for holding me safely in her body
give thanks to myself for the will to surrender
give thanks to land of hawaii.

ase...cbell