Hallelujah! I am back in the water finally. I haven’t stopped smiling from ear to ear since I put my toe in the water four days ago. I didn’t realize how much I missed the ocean and how depressed I had been until I paddled out to Backdoor. It was pretty much 4-5 foot perfection, sunny, glassy, and not that crowded. I paddled out and just sat in the lineup for awhile soaking it all in. Feeling the water move, the liquid on my skin, the taste of salt on my lips, watching blue barrels form in slow motion… it’s that feeling of connecting with nature and having the rest of the world melt away that I believe is so addicting, so freeing, so blissful. This love for the ocean and this feeling is a universal connection that all surfers have. I was restricted to forty five minutes but I could have stayed out all day. On the car ride home, I cried for a solid twenty minutes because I was just so happy to be back in the water. I had an epiphany that day. One that I would not have come to if I didn’t get sick for two weeks. Everything happens for a reason right? I just realized that the way the ocean and surfing makes me feel is like nothing else in the world. I am so lucky to be a surfer and I want to do this for years to come. I want to take care of my body, my health so that I can continue to do what I love. Sometimes I take for granted what I have and get lost in routine and going thru the motions. The things that I want to do then become things I have to do and I lose touch with how amazing surfing is. I am excited to be back in the water with a renewed passion for my sport. See…a little bump in the road can be good.