King of the Rock

This is a tribute post to my brother who won the King of the Rock surfing competition today, held in memory of my uncle, Mark Clifford. 

 I am so proud of my little brother, not just today, but always. He is a true inspiration to me and frankly I would be completely lost without him. 

(Mark Clifford)

(Nick ripping up the rock. Photos by Heather Wren.)

Travel Bug

I made a rather foolish though exciting purchase last week, of the "Long Way Round Collectors Edition Box Set". It contains: Long Way Round, Long Way Down and Race to Dakar. Although I have seen Long Way Round and Down a number of times I had not seen race to Dakar. It's one of those shows that gives you this unexplainable urge to travel far and wide. I have been looking up flights to various destinations wondering what possible adventures could be next in store for me.

In about 3 weeks I am taking a road trip up the East coast of NSW which I am very excited about. I have also been looking up flights to Hawaii for their winter to travel along the coast to see the winter swells and maybe even get some surfs in somewhere. I also looked up trips to various pacific islands, Africa, South America, the UK and Asia. It is making me realise that there is SO much I want to see and do, and I want to take every possible opportunity that throws itself my way.

Every time I sit down to work on an essay, or to read a law textbook, I feel sad about the things I could be doing instead, and yet excited, knowing that one day, I will be doing them.

Attitude is Altitude.

Further to my post yesterday, while I am in the process of re evaluating my life some what... I stumbled across this video. It might just change your life. Or at least how you look at it!

Soul Surfer

There are times, when I look at my life, and I think "It's too hard." I am always worrying about my next exam, whether I am fighting with a friend, what I am doing on the weekend, not having enough time for a social life. 

Although I realise on a regular basis, the pathetic nature of these worries, there is the occasional moment of clarity when I am reminded of just how lucky I really am.  Today was one of those moments.

The movie "Soul Surfer" tells the story of Bethany Hamilton, a name that has become commonplace in the surfing world. Although I have been admiring the strength of this woman since her accident, having read her book and followed her website closely, when watching her movie today, it hit me all over again. Bethany was attacked by a shark while out surfing with her friends in her home state, Hawaii. She lost an arm as a result. For her surfing career, most assumed it was fatal. It wasn't. She managed to get back out in the water and return to the sport within weeks of the accident. Not only did she keep surfing, but she turned pro. Her faith, courage and ability led her to her dreams and as she once quoted "I have been able to embrace more people with one arm, than I ever could with two." 

People like this bring me back into reality. They make me realise how easy my life is, and inspire in me, a need to help others. Bethany has been such an inspiration for me, in that I look at her and what she has overcome to reach her dreams, compared to the path currently laid out in front of me with virtually no obstacles along the way. I watched this movie today, and almost cried at the end when they were showing you actual footage of her getting back in the water after the attack.

 It comforts me to know, that there is someone out there with as much courage, drive, ability, selflessness  and determination as Bethany Hamilton.

In the days we thought would last forever.

I miss the carefree days where all we cared about was getting caught. Those lazy, warm friday afternoons when we would lie on my bed and listen to music that would have us tripping for days. We would watch the laser as it got dark and it lit up the room with it's dots of red and green. We would play with highlighters under black lights and we would read Aristotle and theorise about our lives. Sometimes we would read shakespeare and I would be juliet while you played romeo and we would kiss until our lips were bleeding.

Late night loving and sleeping in until midday on saturday because there was nothing more important than what we were doing and where we were. I remember when we went to concerts and the lights would skip across our faces,  the colours were blinding and no words were spoken because the music filled our souls. We would close our eyes and sway with each other until long after the music finished in a love affair we thought would last forever.

You would cook for me and we would eat french toast for dinner because that was our favourite. We would drink red wine and laugh because life was just so funny. Everything went by in a blur of free moments. And now all we have left to show for this, long after the bands have broken up, the lights have been turned off and our lips are healed, is the memory of us. They memory of how it used to be.

A weekend that memories are made of.

A champagne hangover is all I have to show from the best weekend of my life. I never want to waste those memories. 

All the lost friends, loves and time over the past 21 years, will never unbalance the happiness I felt this weekend as we laughed and talked and drank our way to a moment in our lives that we will never forget. 

We used to be friends.

A long time ago, we used to be friends. Maybe the Dandy Warhols did know what they were talking about. We Used to be friends. There was a time when I could tell you anything. I could whisper secrets in your ear and know that they would be safe forever. I listened to you cry and pour your heart out when no one else would, and we sat and talked all night, then we would hold each other like it was the end of the earth because if we let go, it felt like it may well be just that. Magnetic. It was love, it was laughter, it was the fun times and the sad. It was the kind of togetherness that you think you could never feel with another human being. 

So the part I don't understand is where all that went wrong. I wasted so many truths on you, only to get lies in return. A broken heart, in a way I never thought was possible. In a way that no lover could ever achieve. The monsters that haunt my nightmares are a better friend than you could ever be. And I just can't do it anymore. Our story ends here.