Shortboarder * I
Illustration Roy Gonzalez
Tell a knight by his sword, know a surfer by her board. The better your board works, the better your life works. Any shortboarder worth her saltwater well knows this tenet to be true. Hence she is always after that magic stick, and he never replete without the mythical Excalibur. A magic board makes surfing magic. Always in trim, the shortboarder can “go to any spot on the wave at any time, and at any given moment be in the best position possible relative to the wave.” She is synchronicity in curls. She is our “Surfin’ Bird.” She drops in and goes for it. She turns, she carves, she goes off-the-lip. He is a wave wizard. He gets upside down in the tube and finishes with a flying kickout. He is an aquatic acrobat. They are surf alchemists, board and rider as one, rider and wave as one. The way of the shortboarder is at-one-ment.
Purification is the first step. The shortboard slices around anything negative or disturbing and slaps upside the whitewater for redirection, leaving the chaos behind. The shortboarder absorbs these negative ions for the better, getting wetter with the elements, harnessing their creative forces and learning to work with them, in harmony. She weaves her way across the wave in accord with nature, immersed in natural law, further forging her relationship with our Mother Ocean. The shortboard is a creative vehicle for expression. The shortboarder is becoming confident. He surfs with purpose and determination. He has been bestowed the
power of creative freedom. Performance surfing is his creative genius. His repertoire is innovative and revolutionary. Experiment and spontaneity persevere, but every maneuver is measured. He’s got his groove on, is stoked and in fluid overdrive. Shortboarding is her dream come true. The surfer girl has gone onstage, dervish in a liquid ballet.
She is a crowd pleaser, an eager beaver tailed ripper, and like her board, sometimes overly responsive. She is symbolic of perpetual adolescence. She is infectious but sneaky, caught up in pulling too many tricks. The shortboarder is a speed freak adrenalin junkie. His life is rollercoaster. His sharp edge cuts hard. He’s not smooth and lacks style. His positioning is poor and his timing off. Too near the rail or tail and he falls off balance; too forward and his nose digs in and purls. Emotionally overwhelmed and in extra-sensory overload, the shortboarder is humbled in asking for mercy and enlightenment.
Andre Quilha by Daniel Bota
He hoots to acknowledge the water spirits that make his life a magic carpet ride. The shortboarder reveals to us that we have been given the gift to make the extraordinary from the ordinary. Find the tool that makes life work best for you. Apply your skills. Make things happen. Reinvent the wheel, and push the envelope. If you are afraid to experiment or it seems that your creativity is blocked, it’s a return to balance that will put you back in flow. The shortboarder draws new lines. He’s “nimble” and can change direction, and “with the quickness.” She’s light on her feet, and is “lightfoot” and “footloose.” It’s magic. Just stand up and dance. It’s the time of your life.
