Following his exploits on Sunday at Sennen Cove, young Harry Wade has been signed up to Team SurfTwisted. He surfed well yesterday, too, with the swell still sizeable, though his Dad was right off the pace and couldn't get his act together. At this rate, Harry will refuse to paddle out with me soon, let alone have me next to him in the line-up, so I'd better make an effort pretty damn soon.
On a (slightly) more serious note, the last two days have reminded me of how integral confidence is to surfing. By my (low to middling) standards, I've been surfing well lately, and then, bang - the biggest swell we've had for months turns up. Just a couple of months ago, Harry probably wouldn't have gone out in it, but he went and charged; by contrast, although I like chunky surf, these past couple of days I've found myself not committing on take-offs and generally making mistakes. There's no danger of a lucrative free-tea-in-Newquay deal with SurfTwisted for me, that's for sure.
Meanwhile, why should lawyers surf? Having been one, I'd say that the answer is that if they don't, when they finally
return to live once again by the coast they'll be condemned to languish forever in the intermediate zone, sometimes getting it right, sometimes getting it wrong. But Tim Kevan, author of a book cunningly entitled Why Lawyers Should Surf, begs to differ. He's quit briefs in the City for clean lines at Lynemouth, and his book is reviewed below by Tom Anderson, a Welshman who had many scrapes with the lawyers (not least, a night out with me which we somehow both survived) but never became one. Instead he leapt straight to being a writer and surfer, penning the much-acclaimed Riding the Magic Carpet. I'm not jealous, honest, so without further ado, here's Tom review.
From the days of the Hawaiian kings to the present, surfing has always captured people's imagination and managed to take them out of their day to day lives. It is uplifting and spiritual and provides a connection with nature and forces greater than ourselves. So it seems only natural when the authors point to surfing as a way of helping cope with the stresses of modern living and of re-gaining some balance in life.
Why Lawyers Should Surf is written by a former barrister and a psychiatrist. I particularly liked the way they avoided the cheesy, self-satisfied tone that instantly puts me off most motivational books, which too often come across as some sort of instruction booklet for life but which forget the art and lose sight of the soul. This book on the other hand not only provides an extremely clear and accessible introduction to cutting-edge techniques for getting one's mind into shape but it also provides a context. It stresses the need to feed the soul and listen to your own heart just as surfers monitor the movements of the ocean.
The use of the metaphor of surfing works surprisingly well. It not only taps into the inherent power of the sea but also has the benefit of resonating with those who have perhaps previously only ever surfed the internet. What's more, the book subtly introduces the reader to a wide mix of literary, scientific and spiritual sources. As a surfer I particularly liked the enormous range of the quotations and reflections on the meaning of surfing itself and our almost primeval connection with the sea. (In many ways it is a song for the modern age which could well become a cult classic like perhaps Anne Morrow Lindbergh's Gift from the Sea.
As for the reference to lawyers, it is clear that they are simply being used as an example of the work-shackled majority who perhaps yearn for something more in their lives. Certainly it applies across the board to anyone looking for inspiration. The tone throughout is authentic and a nice footnote is that since co-writing the book Tim Kevan has indeed walked the talk and given up the trappings of the bar for the surf of North Devon. He is now living in Braunton and writing a novel for Bloomsbury Publishing. That's what I'm talking about!
Spot on for surfers, lawyers and anyone else looking for inspiration.
The picture of SurfTwisted's Harry 'Wiggoly' Wade, someone showing no sign of becoming a lawyer, is by Greg Martin.
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