Why Start a Substack?
Surfing the waves of culture, dreams and inspiration. Oh and an inner calling, definitely that too!
Read on and or listen here
The ocean is one of my truest loves, well water is my original lover and as my Mum says... its my soul mate. It was always a dream to live near the ocean. As a prairie girl growing up near muddy rivers, the lakes in the forest belt also brought me the same sense of pleasure and expansion. That’s what a good soul mate does right? Calls us towards greater experiences and joys.
Being near water and by water makes me feel simultaneously alive and at peace. Surfing was a sport I wanted to be good at when I lived in California, and if I kept at it maybe I would have arrived at being a surfer. And hey there’s still time - I’ve heard of people in their 60’s and 70’s learning. With that in mind, I have another 20 years to try again. For now, cruising on my paddleboard brings me a level of joy that resides in deep content. The moment I was on the SUP board it was a fit for my body, personality, and stage in life. I do live in a mountain town far from waves that are worthy of a surf. Plus, peaceful activities honestly feel more edgy these days after a very intense period of living. The lakes here offer a pristine setting, a great workout, and an opportunity to connect with water. Pure water flowing from natural underground springs, glacier and snow fed mountain creeks, and rain. Lots and lots of rain. The water is clear and clean and tickles me with awe each and every time. To water I am grateful.
Today my neck aches from the first stand up paddle of the season and I am engaged in another kind of surfing. Dream surfing with a side of culture surfing. These reflections came to me as I navigated into the wind and against the waves to coast back on 1ft waves in a decent wind on my fave lake. When I did take some beginner surf lessons in Ventura the instructor, Chipper Bro, told me there were many ways to be a “Surfer”. He must have seen the look in my eye of wanting to be a surfer and also not wanting to get tossed around too much. There was a lot of falling. His words made it feel less like failing. Life had been like a rip tide in recent years, and I simply didn’t have the interest in that level of effort. Also, all the waiting in between waves made me feel anxious, mostly about sharks and sun protection. I sensed I needed ease and turned my focus to cycling, swimming, yoga, hiking, and dancing. I spent a lot of time excitedly watching dolphins, sky shows, and waves from the shore pondering how I could be another kind of surfer. I watched an artist paint waves on a canvas plunked down in the sand. She was surfing, creative surfing I mused, a tug at my soul.
That day Chipper opened my perspective and his surf lessons carried through my life in other ways. We can want something when we think we want it and there’s a liberation that comes with letting that go. And there’s more than one way to connect to a dream. My dreams of being a Cali girl had come true and still up the coast called to me. BC girl called to me. Some dreams have an expiry and that’s ok. Other dreams can live on shapeshifting with our desires over our lives.
My dreams of getting another dream job had come true, again, and still I longed to be an artist and writer as I had been in my earlier days on this earth. This is how we surf our dreams, riding the waves when the right one appears for us, and we paddle into it observing the rise and fall of momentum. Waiting is important, waiting too long can be troublesome. Yet there’s always another wave, even if on another day. So the dreamers of this world, as I am one of many, are rich in dreams. We can watch the dreams from ashore or we can get after them. The thing about surfing, from someone who’s watched a lot of it(!), is that you paddle to the waves, wait, then seize the moment. Magic follows bringing the feelings of the ecstasy, wonder and awe. I am a dream surfer and this is what I’ve discovered.
Yes water is my soul mate. There’s also more than one soul mate for us in this life as much as the movies like to prescribe the perfect match of one and one in a romantic destiny, often with a side of drama and/or comedy. A soul mate is described on Wiki as “a person with whom one has a feeling of deep or natural affinity.” It mentions the feeling of completeness - which is exactly how I feel about water. This is exactly what my Mother observed. Being in it, on it, by it and really experiencing it in anyway with my senses, imagination, or recollections brings me profound joy and wholeness. I feel at home with water and, like any strong interpersonal relationship, it does challenge me. Water encourages me to step out of norms and away from fears. It offers infinite reasons to take risks if I can surrender to the flow of it and pay attention to the ebbs.
Water and the rise and fall of waves have taught me many lessons. So have my dreams. I’ve always allowed myself to have many dreams. Of all sizes and shapes, colors and textures. Creativity is another companion to my soul. This is a different kind of relationship. One that comes through me and is nourished/fostered both from the outside and the inside. Yet I have spent far too much time denying my self and my soul the commitment to my creativity. To live it, to share it, to embrace it. Creativity that is to be shared as an invitation to another experience. I have waited and I have watched and now is the moment to paddle out. To get after it. To make a dream come true through me rather than to me.
Surfing is about presence and risk and insight into the moment at hand, at least that’s my metaphorical position on it. There’s a lot of waiting for the waves before acting. The past few years I’ve been living a quieter existence closer to paddleboarding than surfing. In terms of my creative and dream surfing, the bigger waves are calling, and I’ve watched the tides enough to know we can wait and watch our whole lives and never ride the wave unless we put ourselves out there, possibly with hungry sharks. But any surfer will tell you it’s worth the risk. That’s where there’s a lot of fun ;)
So, why write a Substack newsletter? Because culturally the wave is rising, and the words are flowing in and out, and what I have to contribute to the collective creative cauldron of evolving human culture matters, at least to me. The world might be ending, another may be beginning, and we don’t really know, but we have this moment. So, let’s make art with our dreams, our voices, our mediums (whether craft or sport or…) and our lives. We can live lives filled with the magic of riding the waves of our dreams, desires, expressions and joy. This is what I came here for.
With Care,
Nichola Anne Napora <-> Mystic Peaks Studio
Honest Dispatches from a Wild Woman Finding Her Way.
Written and Recorded May 18, 2023
1st Paddle of the season, as the day ends, sights set on new horizons.
Protect our waters and our water loving friends and creatures by supporting sustainable stewardship and being the change through conscious caretaking of this amazing planet.