Autumn Kitchens
March 29, 2022 — Written By Brianna Ortega
Photo by: Greg Fulks @fulks on Instagram
How has your surf journey changed your view of the world?
My surf journey has completely been a humbling experience. I’ve had moments where I question my ability and passion for It, along with moments where it feels like the pure drive of my existence. Surfing has taken me so many different places and allowed me to connect with different people. I’ve been able to learn how we all mimic nature. We are reflections in the way energy moves through the water and seasons change. This realization has allowed me to view the world with an overall lens of compassion. We’re all going through seasons, changes, and we all have energy moving throughout our bodies in different ways. Overall I realize I don’t know much except my love for the ocean which keeps me in a very exploratory mode. The world feels really big with so many people and waves I want to get to know, and I think before surf it felt smaller, off limits, and further away.
What have you learned from surfing or the ocean about community?
I’ve often struggled with community or finding my tribe but I’ve also learned that you’ll eventually find them. Surf in general brings people together which is the cherry on top. My surf community has made me feel supported in ways that I never imagined before and because of that I’ve learned the importance in nurturing community. Just because the community is present and amazing doesn’t mean that it will always be available – sharing your love and support, making yourself available inside and out of the water is the rain your community needs. Of course, like everything else community flows in seasons. During the summer we are often super connected and always together but during the winter, everyone tends to follow the heat scattered around the world or go into hibernation. That distance isn’t an indication of lack of love but simply a season that will eventually end and come back.
Photo by: Greg Fulks @fulks on Instagram
