Intuition and Reassurance

Around the New Year I usually write a little bit about the past and coming months; I was curious last night what I had written last year so I dug it up and read through. It was reassuring [as I read] to feel that I've stuck to my path and done justice to the hopes that I had set for myself in 2011. In fact, the last year has tested me a thousand times beyond what I had ever thought possible, and I'm proud that I've held up my end of the bargain.

Leaving Point Concept behind was a big deal to me. It was a choice based on honesty to myself and my chosen path as much as it was a choice to boil down the important parts of my 'job'... To make sure that I'm keeping myself true to my passions and curiosities so as to stay inspired and on an honest path and not one run by glossy marketing schemes, machine shapes and t-shirt lines. I may be naive, but I'm living for honesty right now over monetary profit.

I asked myself to trust in people's goodness and give them the benefit of the doubt as long as I hold up my end of the bargain; take out what I put in and trust that others will do the same. I have most definitely been shown that this kind of action is not always reciprocated, and has revealed some true ugliness in the past year; but it's also brought me the most surreal of opportunities and friends. Its like an automatic sifter of good and bad...You learn about yourself and about other people, then make an informed decision on what to do with the information from there. And thats exactly what I wanted to do when I started building surfboards for other people: Learn. About friends, surfing, myself, and about my path in life through surfboards.

As 2012 starts, I'm poised in front of as many new opportunities as ever. I am humbled and grateful to everyone who continues laying down the challenges in front of me, and flattered that somehow week after week I just have to keep building honest, good surfboards and everything will work out. I'm more than happy to do that. I want to be transparent, and I want what is inside of that to be honest and grateful. Thank you for supporting my ambitions, publicly or silently, I truly appreciate what my life has become.

So with all of that said and my slate clean, I want to share a short edit that I put together of some clips taken by mr.Kew. I've been holding this one in my back pocket for a couple of months for some reason, waiting for the right time to let it go...This feels as good of time as any. Trevor draws some beautifully clean and effortless lines on his v.bowls; Full-screen it and turn up the volume a little; it'll increase your mellow.

Intuition and Reassurance

A number of years ago my friend Hiten passed the novel Siddartha on to me while I was feeling a bit lost. After reading it I made a few decisions about who I wanted to be and how I wanted to conduct myself in life; I gave myself a direction, I guess. A month ago I picked it up and read it again for the first time in a little while...I wanted to see if I was living up to the hopes that I had for myself...I was reassured as I read along.

Every year I write a blog post on New Years eve, to be posted the next morning. It takes on different forms every time and serves as an open and honest thank you to everyone around me that helps fuel my "job" [ha.]. I took a look back at last year's post to see what I had written and what I was feeling around then and was glad, once I gave it a gander, to feel like I've lived up to the goals that I set for myself at that time. And to know that I made some extremely tough decisions to keep myself in line with those ideals.

I told myself to follow my passions and curiosities and trust in people's goodness as long as I held my end of the bargain as well. I told myself to be honest and open with people, and to share with my friends my opportunities and thoughts. Again I'm reassured as I think back on my last year.

I made one decisions in particular that tested every bit of my will and commitment to being honest to myself and to what I want from life. Leaving my Point Concept to the past was a choice I made in early 2010 that was based on some revelations made early in the year; It was a hard way to reverse a mistake but one that had to happen no matter the circumstances it put me in.

I can honestly say that I have followed my passions to the best of my ability, and am pushing the boundaries of the life that I thought possible.

I do my best to give everyone a window into my journey, and to work my buns off in the shop, behind the camera and on the internet-machine to keep everyone satisfied; and everyone includes me. I'm chasing something for myself. I don't know what it is, but the path is through surfboards and the questions they keep presenting. I'm entering the new year excited for the amount of work I am capable of and the new space I have to perform it in, and grateful that you all keep putting the challenge in front of me so readily.

Happy New year everyone. I'll start the new blog-year off with a short edit I did from some footage Michael Kew gave me a few months ago...I've been saving this one in my back pocket for a while, waiting for some reason to let it out of the bag. Seems like a good time for that.

Fullscreen this one and turn it up...it'll increase your mellow:

Intuition

Ultimate footage courtesy of Michael Kew.