Reckless Abandon

I didn’t have an exact itinerary in mind when I went to Boracay for the weekend. In fact, I would have been content just walking along the beach, listening to my iPod (except I didn’t have my iPod on me). But then I discovered that there are SO MANY things you can do in Boracay — helmet diving (which I did), zorbing (which I also did, will blog soon), ATV driving, parasailing, banana boating, scuba diving, helicopter riding, island hopping, and lots more! But among the varied beach/island activities to engage in, I would have never imagined myself to try out skimboarding.

I had the fortune of learning the tricks from Ron, one of the island’s (amazing) resident skimboarders. In a space of one hour, I got to know the basics of this board sport (operative term is “get to know,” not exactly “learn” or “apply”). According to Ron, skimboarding is all about three things:

• Timing;
• Momentum; and
• Balance.

He patiently walked me through the process, from properly positioning the feet on the board to correctly landing on it. And you know? I listened carefully and tried to absorb everything that he said. I may not be the most athletic person in the world but I was surely willing to learn and give it a go. Unfortunately, it seemed that everything I’d supposedly learned escaped me every time I attempted to do it.

I knew I had to bend my knees, but I’d land on the board almost upright. I knew I had to land forward on the board, but I’d do it with my torso arched back. I knew I had to land on both feet, but I’d land on one foot first — and in the wrong position too. Consequently, I took several nasty spills, probably eight times out of ten during the entire lesson. Not to mention, my clumsy falls didn’t help the scrapes I’d gotten from my underwater mishap earlier that day. Further, I felt like my limbs were going to come apart whenever I took an ugly tumble. The interesting thing was, I didn’t mind the pain at all and I just kept going and falling, going and falling. It’s been five days already and my hamstrings still ache.

I tried skimming on three boards, but found no significant affinity with any of them. After forty minutes, ten thousand tumbles, a cut on the foot, and more knee scrapes, I finally… did it. I successfully skimmed away! Granted, it was just a short distance, but the experience of riding the flat water was quite exhilarating (look ma, no hands!!!). And that’s when I realized why I couldn’t get it earlier:

This control freak just couldn’t let go.

I told my instructor that I was afraid to fall forward upon landing on the moving board. Ron explained that the board was designed to prevent that and added that I should just have fun with it. But that’s the problem: I don’t know how to have fun with it. Which is probably why I’m a teacher and Ron’s a surfer. I call “school” my “work place;” Ron calls the beach his “playground.” I strive for structure and order in my work while Ron can just set out to the sea and ride the waves with reckless abandon. “Free spirit,” I think it’s called. I think we all need some of that.