Not sure where you are located
Ventura County, California, between Los Angeles and Santa Barbara (or Malibu/California Street/Rincon). Or perhaps I live in the future (my reality is others future ;-( )
I guess it’s a question of how it’s perceived
Exactly right…with an eye on the notion that our common “reality” comes from how the greatest amount of participants perceive things…
I relate to surfing as a lifestyle, not as a consumer. I’m sure most that partake in the ritual view it as such.
Certainly most of us here at Swaylock’s do that. The alarming thing I see where I am at is the massive influx of new surfers who get little more than the surf media rubber bone. Where there are more of “them” than “us”, it becomes “their world”. Certainly it is already so with the surf industry, as newcomers spend more than experienced surfers on accessories (common sense: complete outfit vs. replacing individual pieces). This is symptomatic of overpopulation at large, which we are also experiencing in Southern California. It’s good for business but bad for quality of life. It’s also a done deal here; fighting it isn’t an option - time to make peace with it or move on.
Things go through cycles to be sure, but there is never going to be a massive reduction in number of surfers. Surf spots are a limited resource, and surf conditions are so fickle that it defies reason why so many of us dedicate our lives to riding waves or the pursuit thereof. Right now surfing is undergoing an explosive change due to new interest. This can be either good or bad or both. Certainly there is still the opportunity to guide things in a decent, responsible direction, but it’s up to the experienced “us”, not them, to do it.