Words by Leah Dawson
Seea’s latest short film Common Language gives me all the feels- a yearning desire to share warm fun waves with friends, to bask in the ocean salt bath, to watch the sun go down while gliding on the ocean, to celebrate life on earth.
A welcoming exposé of feminine surf culture, this film invites us in, and drives our inner surf-desires. Much like music is its own language, surf can be too; we don’t have to speak the same language to understand each other’s adoration for the art. The way someone simply watches the ocean from the beach, or holds a board under their arm, the smile on their face as they move wax across their oceanic dance floor, this is the common language we’ve come to love.
Learning to speak ocean - to read waves, understand tides, swells, winds- it takes time. But in that time, the respect is established. Progression isn’t overnight and anyone who surfs well is in it for the long game and those who are learning are clearly are keen for the process. It takes patience to learn this common language, but the gifts we receive are transformative.
Especially in the expanding female surf culture, we are able to recognize each other’s love for surf by our posture, the levity look post-surf, the smell of salt on our skin. As much as we dream to be in this state most of the time, its not the reality for most of us. We are surf-when-we-can people. This is also why taking surf trips feels extra important, so we can have those moments in life where we can strictly prioritize surf (and family if that’s your reality, too!).
Rosie Jaffurs cheers on Naomi Tialavea as she catches a wave in Common Language.
Common Language celebrates steps of progression in longboarding, one inextricably tied to the other: cross-step, cutback, wipeout, and nose ride. We dive further into each of these elements and some tips to achieve them on Seea’s Tip Time Tuesday posts on Instagram.
Yes, I do think wipeouts are part of the art, the inevitable element. Thank goodness water is forgiving to fall on (except when traveling at high speeds on bigger waves).
As my mom always told me, “If you’re not falling at all, you’re not pushing it.” She spoke of this mentality in terms of surf, snow sports, and her favorite, slalom skiing behind a boat, (all sports with a relative soft landing). ***This advice does not apply to motorsports, or land sports that have severe consequences with falling!
Surfing is never perfect, even for the best in the world, and its in the celebration of imperfection that we can fully enjoy the process. Yes, of course, its nice to nail the nose ride every time, or do the perfect cutback every time, but that’s far from reality!
As a new mom, my understanding of celebrating imperfection has taken on a new role. As much as I’d love for my baby girl to not cry while I make her food, or sleep through the night consistently, I’ve learned its easier to soften and go with the flow, rather than get frustrated that its not ‘perfect’ yet, or may never be.
Now when I see other surf moms, I’m understanding a new common language, one emboldened by time management, overcoming separation anxiety, quieting exhaustion, and utilizing surf as the recharge that it is capable of being. My desires to battle it out in a crowd have waned, I’d rather a lesser quality wave with more ocean and seabirds than hungry crowd. It’s become less about the tricks and more about the glide.
I used to surf for myself, and my own well being. Now I look at surf as yes, medicine for myself but also as a place I can show up each and every day with joy and patience for my daughter.
As I watched Common Language a few times over with my babe asleep in my arms, I envisioned myself on that proverbial surf trip, and the surf stoke has been burning in my mind ever since. Needless to say, baby’s passport is in the works.
Enjoy the film, feed your stoke, & make your surf trip plans with your surf buddies!
