Mountain Man's Global News Archive Nature and Surfing by Mountain Man (alt.surfing)
Web Publication by Mountain Man Graphics, Australia

Nature and Surfing

Date: Thu Feb 18 20:24:02 1999
From: Mountain Man
Newsgroups: alt.surfing,alt.surfing.bodyboard,alt.surfing.longboard
Subject: Nature of surf (was Re: sweet sensation)

Here's a 9 set list ...


Neal Miyake wrote:

> I understand all that "being one with nature" and "in eye of the storm"
> stuff, but I'm still curious:
>
> What is the exact physiological allure of surfing?
>
> Is there a natural high created during the gravity-based sports of surfing,
> snowboarding and skateboarding, where steep drops and carves are craved?  Is
> there some relationship to it and riding a rollercoaster?
>
> Surely, there must some expert out there who studies human physiology and
> responses, who may shed some light on this.  Or maybe we are all like dogs
> sticking their head out of car windows, and just like the sensation of
> motion without effort.  What is it?
>
> --
> Aloha from Paradise,
> sponge
> HI Surf Advisory (http://www.iav.com/~sponge)



 (1) Nature is deeper than you or I or anyone else here
 can comprehend sponge.  We are part of it, and it is a
 part of us - and it never seems the same to any 2 folk.
 It keeps going when we fall unconscious into sleep, and
 existed aeons before out remotest ancestors, and will
 continue to exist when we are long gone.  Nothing wrong
 with a healthy curiousity though, especially over and
 above the things which are not composed of hype and
 glitter.  See the quote for the day ...

 (2) Surfable waves are manifestations of the cosmic
 energy which reaches across the gulfs of space to the
 terrestrial environment and sets the atmosphere and
 air in motion - creating the wind.  The wind sets up
 the groundswell, and the cosmic energy is translated
 into the energy of the wave.

 (3) Waves themselves may travel for thousands of miles
 before finding release at the coastal breaks.  They are
 thus sometimes representative of great global journeys,
 and in the generation of the surf is their "Journey's
 End".

 (4) Freefall and the freedom from terrestrial gravity
 has probably been the dream of the ancestors of all
 life (including man).  The engagement of action in an
 environment where the G-forces can be varied searches
 the reflexes and conditioning and mental attitude of
 the surfer.

 (5) Who has experienced the gravitation of the sun or
 the moon other than the earth?  These two are always
 there but are in the background.  If they are 
 to be experienced it would be during the weightlessness
 of free-fall or when the earth's gravity has somehow
 been wound back a little. Why is this important? It
 is our first steps to the cosmos - the backyard.

 (6) Somehow, it would appear, our form and outlook
 have evolved down though the long ages from the very
 beginning of life on this planet.  The first life
 on this planet lived for 2 billion years in the sea
 before it made the crossing of the inter-tidal zone
 (sun and moon) to the land.  The ocean & air of earth
 is the mother of life, the sunshine is its father.
 Naturally there'd be reverence to the oceanic expanses.
 It was our cradle and some of our brothers and sisters
 still remain therein.

 (7) The water of the planet has been up into the clouds
 and down through the rains (and snows) in the creeks
 and rivers to the oceans - for many many many cycles.
 In it are the waters that have flowed through the living
 bodies of all living things.  Is it this in which we
 immerse ourselves, or is it immersed in us?    Both.

 (8) The cosmic energy moves the wind.  The wind moves
 the water to groundswell, and this turns to the surf
 where it meets the earth.  The surf is one of the
 meeting places of all the ancient elements of nature.

 (9) It is "Ever-A-Changing; Forever the Same".



 That's enuf for now sponge.
 You want 9 more - just ask.
 (flamers beware)

 G'day - from one paradise to another,
 keep the stoke. watch the trajectory.

 And paddle into 'em
 like there was no 2morra.







Pete Brown
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 BoomerangOutPost:       Mountain Man Graphics, Newport Beach, {OZ}
 Thematic Threading:     Global Oceanic Surf Links: TheTakeOffPoint
 Webulous Coordinates:   tubelink.html
  QuoteForTheDay:

            "Nothing is rich
              But the inexhaustible wealth of nature.
              She shows us only surfaces,
              But she is a million fathoms deep"

              - Ralph Waldo Emerson

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