Writer's Club: March
Not sure if anyone here is a surfer here - I came to surfing super late. I was 21 before I got on a board, and I was terrified. I was scared of the unknown (aka the ocean, the tumbling waves, and being stuck underwater). But I was also terrified of looking like I didn’t know what I was doing, and to be honest - I was terrified that I would suck.
Newsflash: when you first learn to surf, you will fall. And you will definitely look like you don’t know what you’re doing, because you don’t. Yet. Over the last 6 years, I have had to learn about humility and patience (two skills I wasn’t too good at growing up) - because Mother Nature doesn’t wait for you; you have to get in line and ride by her rules.
The other day, I was scrolling on Instagram and I caught sight of a photo of Hannah Hill. Hannah is a beyond rad surfer from Oregon who Ally and I met while we were in Panama on YTT. Hannah had just turned 18 and was working at Sansara on the surf team. PSA: She SHREDS. We would watch her slide on her longboard in absolute awe. So there was this picture of her - and the caption read: “just look where you wanna go”.
It’s the most simple instruction in surfing, but it’s really works. So my journal prompt to you is this:
Where do you want to go? And have you been looking towards it, or have you been turning your gaze away because you’re afraid that you’re going fail?
You say: but what if I fall?
We say: but what if you fly?
Right now at Girlvana HQ (global offices in NYC + LDN, aka our respective apartments), we’ve been listening to The Japanese House who has a dope new album out called Good At Falling. Apt, huh? Take a listen to Cool Blue. It’s an oldie but a goodie.
You can submit your piece below if you have it typed up, or snap a photo of it and email it to digital@girlvanayoga.com, just be sure we can read it all. You choose whether you want author cred or if you’d rather submit anonymously.
Written by our content manager, Cat (writer of Always The Night, a piece on heartbreak for the Girlvana Journal). Cat is a Feelvana YTT graduate, music lover, London native, WOC and impassioned advocate for empowering womxn worldwide.