Only Time Is Ours

The rest well just wait and see

One day in winter it all disappeared - the heaviness of it all. The grey, rainy sludge that blanketed the ground and land around here for the past months. The air was soft and everywhere was blue. The skies bleached but blue. For once in a very long time I felt like a human - not just one of them robots that went out to work, came home and slept. Winter wore heavy on me and the days when the sun came out were short.

I had practised the things that helped me feel like myself. I took myself out when I could to make images, attempted to run when I had the time and most importantly went easy on myself. Cornwall reared its gnarly head and I think it was its most beautiful like that. The waves crashing on ancient granite and the sandbanks being sculpted for surfers delectation.

Summer allowed me to fit in a full schedule of surfing alongside working full time but winter was harder for this. The tides, wind, swell and daylight hours often conspired against me making conditions enormous to unsurfable a lot of the time I had free to surf. That was the art form that I loved. Running or tennis were easier, you could just go and get after them, the ocean set its own rhythm. You had to balance your life finely in tune with this rhythm and if you didn’t then you’d miss out. I never knew how far to take this rhythm watching. I had been unemployed for a fair bit of my twenties to surf but wanting to better myself meant putting that aside and working more. Surfers always seemed selfish - and rightfully so. All the land based things had a time and a place but waves only came when they came and they demanding answering.

What did any of it mean anyway - why was winter so much heavier than summer. It was easier I guess - I appreciated the aliveness of Cornwall in the winter. The gnarliness was awe inspiring and in a way humbling. Seeing ancient cliffs take a beating from untamed atlantic swells made groggy and dark mental health snags seem a little less deep.

There were steps that I was taking that I would only see completed once I had made them. Certain times during the winter made me feel inadequate and stuck - seeking refreshment and rejuvenation. This was what winter brought and we needed. Slower times for all of us. Especially the ones who couldn’t rest and really slow down - which included me.

I’ll ride the wave where it takes me

I hope you can ride along

Steve

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Like I have already spoke about in my last newsletter - my print shop is open. It features surf escapism photos that I’ve made locally and around the world. Please take a look and of course I would be grateful for the support. Just click the link to MY ETSY SHOP