Stuart Nettle July 23, 2009

Every day I receive literally hundreds of emails in my inbox, but you won't see me complaining. Hell no! On the contary, it makes me feel important, and wanted, and in demand. But the fact is I've set up my Google account so I receive all these emails. I receive Google Alerts so every time a new web page containing 'surf', 'surfer' or 'surfing' gets posted on the internet I get an alert in my inbox. And, like I said, I receive hundreds of alerts. The whole process is doing wonders for my self-esteem. It's a job requirement really. Working in the media, even the surf media, requires me to have my finger on the proverbial pulse. The thing I find after checking all these pages containing surfing info is that there is a remarkable similarity between so many of them. Discounting all the pages with bastardisations of 'surf' (surf the web, channel-surf etc.) or straight up surf industry news there is a growing collection of  blogs, newspaper articles and websites with articles telling us what surfing 'means'. I'm finding a large percentage of them are by earnest authors looking for greater meaning within surfing: “Surfing Saved My Life”, “Surf For Peace”, “Surfing Making A Better World For People In Cuba/Gaza/Bangladesh/Angola” choose your own third-world, war-torn dictatorship. There is a whole canon developing on the internet with people spruiking the virtues of surfing. How it has created positive change in people's lives or has the power to change the world. Considering all this I ran a wee experiment last month by adding 'rock-climbing' and 'soccer' to my Google Alerts. The first thing that happened was my inbox got a lot busier (boosting my sense of self-esteem a corresponding amount). The second was that many of the sites I was alerted to bore a similarity to those pages containing articles on surfing. As it turns out rock-climbing and soccer are also very important in many people's lives, and many of the punters that take part in those sports attribute positive changes in their lives, or the power to change the world, to rock-climbing and soccer. I could very well have replaced 'rock-climbing' and 'soccer' for 'surfing' and the stories were fundamentally the same. It reminds me of religion. I've got a few friends that are born-again happy clappers. Good blokes. Intelligent folks. However, it frustrates me no end when they tell me how the big fella upstairs has turned their lives around. How he has changed their world. And here's me, a staunch atheist, saying no, don't attribute your good fortune to the bearded bloke, you did it! You improved yourself! I feel a similar way when I read these pages about surfing as salvation. Surfing can't change the world anymore than rock-climbing or soccer. They are are all just pastimes that humans pursue in our time on Earth. Conduits through which we experience the world. Some may even say distractions from experiencing it – a bunch of hedonists spoiling themselves while the times are good. What they aren't are divine salvation from personal or political ailments. Humans alone make those choices and take those actions. Believing that surfing and surfers can 'change the world' is dangerous as it inflates our sense of self-worth and, in the case of creating peace, reduces the source of serious conflict to a flippant 'fun in the sun' issue. Don't get me wrong, surfing is a bloody brilliant sport. I love it as much as anyone else on this earth. I've used it to take me to some amazing places, to meet fascinating people and share incredible moments. But if it wasn't surfing it would've been something else. Maybe rock-climbing or soccer, or maybe even Jesus.