The solution to all our problems
Surf Village Sketch From 2012
One of my teachers offered this idea:
Imagine being born into this world and being seen by everyone in the community as a cargo bay containing precious goodies that no one else carries, and these goodies are needed by the community. Also no training, diploma, or certification is necessary, we are seen as being born with the diploma and all the credentials necessary to take up this unique purpose of giving these gifts to everyone. Further our community recognizes and acknowledges and celebrates us for our giftedness, before we achieve or accomplish anything. There is something about being seen in this way that elevates a human being in a way that is very exhilarating.
Once this idea got a hold of me I haven’t been able to let it go, and even more so when I learned that all our ancestors used to live this way…
My 
I am laying down on a rug, because it’s to painful to stand or sit down, when my son crawls into the other room. Getting up has been sending sharp shooting pains through my lower back so I figure crawling after him might be easier and quicker. As I’m crawling I notice it doesn’t hurt as much when I move my legs. So we crawl around the room together and make our way back to the rug. It feels so good to be able to move my legs after several days of feeling constant agonizing pain. This is the most excruciating physical pain I have ever felt, my wife had sciatica pain last year and she said it is more painful than labor pains…
I ran into a friend the other day and she asked me about teaching paddleboarding and specifically what happens when you fall in the water? I quickly responded with, “you get wet”. She shook this unsettling thought off and voiced her concern about the “dirty” water. I said there is more healing in being in the ocean and nature than not, and she agreed.
“If it was easy everyone would be doing it.” This idea that life is hard and needs to be overcome is how I lived the first 20 or 30 years of my life, no pain no gain was my motto. The idea of an easy and peaceful life was for wusses and viewed as undesirable or even impossible. I applied this way of thinking when I learned to surf, believing that I couldn’t afford lessons and I was afraid to ask for help, to do so would be a sign of weakness and make me a target for ridicule and rejection.
Since I was about five I worked in my grandfather’s small 
