I woke up and it was raining so I decided to take the laptop and go to my everyday breakfast at Bali Bowls. While driving there which is just a couple of blocks from where I stay, I all the sudden realize I drove passed it, I was about to brake and make a u-turn but I got a gut-feeling that told me to continue straight to the beach even if it was raining. So I listened to my gut-feeling and continued to the beach which is just a couple of more blocks down the road.

I get there, just rain and bad waves. But I stayed and just looked at the ocean. Then a woman walks by with her dog following. The woman walks by but the little dog stopped and just looked at me. Didn’t come close and didn’t walk by, just stood still and looked at me. The woman turnes around and I told her that her dog didn’t want to move, she walks back and we start talking. She has moved here from Austria and has been living here for the last 3 years.

And this is when it get’s interesting.

I told her that I’m here feeling the waves and the ocean and their movement to learn, even if I’m not out on the water. And I told her how I think it’s important to feel your surfboard and feel the waves and the ocean to become a better surfer. As I believe there is a mental side to it, and to become a good surfer you need to have a mental connection to your board and the ocean on top of being a good athlete and fit.

She said, she totally understands it. Then she tells me that she teaches yoga and we started talking about how important it is for any sport or activity to be present and feel the soul of it.

Now I’m here eating breakfast at Bali Bowls and thinking, was it meant to happen? Was I supposed to drive to far and was it that my gut-feeling was supposed to tell me to go on and meet the woman and talk about the soul of the ocean and the souls of sports.

And what makes this even more interesting and emotional is that yesterday I was in the pool with my own board, just balancing and trying to feel the board and even if I might not be able to get up on it yet as it is small and I’m practicing on a big board, I have planned to take it out on the waves tomorrow for the first time, even just to paddle around on it.

As y’all remember tomorrow is the day when I will reveal the board graphic 21.1 and now I have all these encounters happening to me as 21.1 is closing in. For example, yesterday in the evening I was swiming around in the waves and the mount for my GoPro Hero6 broke and it dissapeared into the ocean. Was this meant to happen? As I had planned to mount it to the surfboard when I take it out for the first time, but when this happened it felt like the ocean and life was telling me, go out there without any cameras and just be present and feel the soul of the moment when you are taking the board out. Which is true, if I would take a camera with me I would not fully concentrate and be present in the moment as I would fiddle around with the camera. But now when I will go out without any cameras, just me, my board and the ocean, I will feel the moment, I will feel the soul of the ocean.