Surfing's Origins - Joy

It’s hard to say exactly when surfing started. The handed down origin story described surfing as mostly for royalty only, so the experience was nothing that it is today. It’s hard to imagine that the original riders didn’t feel joy and excitement when they were in the water.

Water is elemental to all life here on earth. Whether you are standing in the middle of Death Valley wishing for a cool drink, or waxing a board on the North shore of Hawaii, it’s water that makes us tick. I live on the central coast of California, and I see and experience the ocean everyday. I’m so grateful for being able to do this, having grown up in the corn belt of the Midwest. I watch the squid boats fishing so close to shore it feels as if I could touch them. I know the joy I’ll get when I sit down to eat something that came from one of those boats. Blessed. To me, water and the ocean are part of my being and soul. It brings me joy to walk my dog during low tide; it brings me joy to see otters twenty feet away enjoying a meal, and it brings me joy to allow it to help heal me. I had a life changing event five months ago and sometimes the ocean is the only thing that begins to make sense to me. It’s the place I find healing and joy.

When I started the journey of this documentary, I was gobsmacked by the beauty of the surf boards that Larry Fuller and his associates were creating. These boards were recreations of boards that had been integral to changing surfing. The picture of Larry with Kelly Slater and Al Merrick’s shaped board below is a recreation of Kelly’s 11th World Championship board.

As you can see this board is a true work of art. You can see the joy and satisfaction on Kelly and Larry’s face. Kelly rode that board at Pipeline several months later, it was pure joy to watch him.

As the film’s journey evolved, I began to realize that the story wasn’t so much about one person’s quest to do something amazing. From all the interviews that I did, I found a common thread from everyone. Up to this point a title for the film had remained elusive. I have an entire journal made up of possible film names. Since Endless Summer was already taken, I kept looking while keeping the common thread from the interviews and the origin story of surfing in mind.

Here’s what I found out. There was a deep commitment and love for the act they were involved in, be it hand sanding a wooden board, to flying down waves. When I examined this further, I found this search for joy was cross platform. It wasn’t just surfing, it was cooking, it was riding a bike, it was walking in the woods. It was a search for a deeper connection to ourselves and the wonderful places we live. It was about finding the very essence of the thing you love and pursuing it with all your heart. It was going to sleep at night at peace with what you do and who you are. I still didn’t have a title for the film.

During a break in the filming I was snorkeling at Turtle Bay on the North Shore of Hawaii,

Turtle Bay Lagoon

when I was almost jolted out of the water by a thought so profound I laughed on my way to the surface. I had heard Addicted to Joy and I knew I had my title. I ran soaking wet through the lobby into the elevator and up to my room. I was sharing a room with Bill Hamilton and like a wild man, I was chanting Addicted to Joy under my breath while I turned the room upside down for a pen. Billy was laughing at me. I knew it was the right name. I knew that Joy was bigger than surfing, and it dwells deep inside ourselves and comes to the surface when we allow it. Just for the joy of it, here’s a little story Billy told me that week. It was off the cuff, so you might need to turn your audio up, but so very true and funny. Aloha, till next time.

I’d like to thank you all for reading Wood Water Soul. We’d like to announce we have moved Addicted to Joy to a new streaming service, we have some very cool things planned for the future, (check out the shirts, and coffee cups )and we’re excited to share them with you. We will donate $1.00 of the sale of each shirt to SHACC Surfing Heritage and Culture Center.Please share this Blog with a fellow surfer, from or with a friend that needs so Joy in their lives. I invite you to watch, Aloha.