Inspirational blogger // Olivia from Don't Tell Summer

Last Saturday it was my birthday and when it comes to aging it's almost impossible not to start thinking about how you're living your life, what would you love to do the upcoming year, if you're happy overall and all this kind of stuff... Simple kind of questions, right?

Anyways, when I feel I should add something in my life, finally start taking that sawing class, or book a flight and leave for that surf trip I have been wanting to do for a long time... Well, when I feel like that, I suddenly tap DontTellSummer and look for that extra push we all need in life.

Today I am so happy I have the chance to bring that motivation on Surfragette. Olivia from DontTellSummer is here to share with us her secrets for a happier and inspired life.

SURFRAGETTE: Hi Olivia, thank you for being here! When and why did you start DontTellSummer? What did inspire you?

OLIVIA: I had been living in Australia for a few winters and they were some of the best "American summers" of my life to date. I was choosing what I wanted to do each day, having fun and living free. I took that newfound attitude and way of life back with me to California and launched DTS at the end of 2011. The name came from the idea that summer is something that you’re waiting for, ultimately your happiness.
That’s when it clicked, why should you wait? Why couldn’t you live exactly how you want to live now? DTS was actually launched during finals week, aka the week where you should hunker down and study your buns off (which we did!) but I physically couldn’t wait any longer for it to get up and running. That was kind of a projection for where the brand would go. While the message has stayed the same, the emphasis on community and doing what you love has grown.
DTS is so much more than a hat brand and blog. It’s a movement. It’s young people for young people. It’s young people going for their dreams and supporting the person next to them in doing the same.

S: Most of your posts are about encouraging people to do what they love in life. What do you love the most about your life? And how did you succeed in finding your happiness?

O: I love that I get to create it. That I decided to move to a different country, to try new things and to create a lifestyle brand. I love the excitement of just going for things. I also love that I get to be with my family (parents, friends and dog). When I was in California I had the best group of friends surrounding me where we were all just ourselves, goofy, carefree and fun. If one of us did something weird, the other would try to out weird them. It can be tough initially to live in a new place where you don’t know anyone, but this past year has been full of new friendships, and old friendships from California, coming together in Sydney to have heaps of fun.

I believe I’m always striving to succeed in the happiness department haha! I think happiness is a mixture between being your choice and small, incremental things that over a period of time add up to your bliss. Staying true to myself and saying yes to the things that excite me help as well.

S: Everyone of us has some ups and downs in life. And you're always such a positive and happy girl! Where do you find the strength to overcome life challenges with a smile?

O: Learning what’s right for you and remembering that you don’t need to be perfect and that life doesn’t need to be perfect. The quicker you can accept what is, the quicker you can move forward and open up to being excited about the future. I had a friend tell me the best advice when I was going through a tough time, I asked her “What if I cry?” (while we’re out or when I’m on vacation where I’m supposed to be completely happy). She said “So what! So you cry, don’t be so hard on yourself.” It was so simple. So what if you have emotions or something other then a smile on, you really don’t need to beat yourself up about it. It’s ok to feel whatever you’re feeling and let it out. Talking to my friends definitely gives me strength to overcome things!

S: Tell us about Hats with a Purpose. What is this project about? On your blog you say that a portion of every purchase goes to a young person with a big dream. Tell us more!

O: Hats with a Purpose is a way for you to be inspired to do what you would love to do. This can be things like travel, starting a business, learning something new… anything really, whatever excites you. Not only that, it’s a reminder to go for it now, and yes! A portion of every hat purchase is put into a fund that will go to young people with big dreams. 
On the website you can enter your story via the written word and video and right now I’m just trying to get more momentum with hat sales so that we can fund our first dream!

S: You're such an inspirational girl. Do you have some inspiring message to give to all the people around the world who are still trying to find their own happiness and do what they love?

O: Aw thank you! So are you! You define your own happiness. What sounds incredible to you might not be what your friend is feeling and that’s ok. We all have different dreams for a reason and it’s up to you go for it! But while you’re going for your dream, cheer on the person next to you in doing the same. When we support one another’s dreams and messages it helps us all. 
Also, if you’re feeling like your dream is too big or could never happen, start researching other people who are where you would love to be. That was a big turning point for me! As soon as I saw other young people living a similar lifestyle to what I wanted to live, something shifted. It’s one thing to think it’s possible; it’s another to truly believe it. 
That’s why I share stories of other young people doing what they love in hopes to show you that "following your dreams" doesn't have to be this mystical thing, it’s more than possible for all of us. 


Thank you so much Olivia for your precious advice and inspiration. We all need that motivation in life to push us towards what we once thought was impossible.
So, why don't we start going after our dreams now?

I hope you all enjoyed this itw :)
What is your biggest dream?

xo



Credits // Author: Marta Tomasini and Olivia O’Connor, Photography: courtesy of DontTellSummer

How surfing cured depression

This article was previously published on Girl Surf Network.
Since this is a place of sharing surf inspired life's bits, I wanted to repost it here too. Because this girl's experience tells about the best gift surf can give us: the gift of life.

I hope this post can help other people in the same situation.

Depression. How surfing saved my life.

I was always a happy kid. I had a great upbringing, loving parents and played a lot of sport. I was one of those kids that got along with everyone at school. In the grand scheme of things, I really didn’t have anything to complain about.

It wasn’t until I was in my mid 20’s that I started to notice my depression, anxiety, sleepless nights and suicidal tendencies. I couldn’t really put my finger on what it was that made me that way and that really frustrated me. It was as if I just didn’t see the point of anything. Why do I go to work? Why to I strive to earn money, buy a house, get married, have kids, travel and love to then just die at the end of it all? It was like I just gave up on life as I knew it.

I sought a few people for inspiration, motivation, even a diagnosis. I was placed on anti-depressants for a year to try and “overcome” my depression. The pills made me feel like a failure in life. How could I be so privileged to be alive and healthy, yet be on daily pills to make me happy. I was ashamed. I didn’t even tell my parents or my closest friends about it.

During my darkest times of depression I would make the effort to walk along the beach with my Ipod playing my favourite tunes. I would watch the sun setting and the surfers in the water until dark. The beach really seemed to take my mind off things. I was noticing that during the day all I wanted to do was to get back to that happy place at the beach watching the surfers do what they loved. It made me happy to think that I was excited about something again. I found a small piece of happiness amidst my depressive state and it was a light at the end of the tunnel.

I spent so many afternoons on the beach that I came to recognize a few of the surfers in the water. There were groups of guys having fun catching waves with their mates. There was a guy with a green wetsuit that was a really good surfer. He always caught the most waves. There were lots of longboarders on the smaller days. They seemed to dance along the waves with such ease.

Of all the surfers I came to recognize, there was one that really stood out for me. It was a girl, about 16 years old with blonde hair. She was heavy set, always surfed in a wetsuit and was out there most days. She was a really good surfer and knew her way around the boys out there.

The thing that made her stand out the most for me was the way she ran to the water. Every time she came down for a surf she would come bolting over the sand dunes, board in hand, hair going everywhere. She was so excited to be going surfing and every time I saw her running over the dunes it looked like it was the first time she had ever seen the ocean. After her session, when leaving the water it was like it was the last time she would see the ocean.

This was a pure sense of happiness. A joy that can’t be bought. I thought about all the times I played sport over the years and I never remember being so excited that I would bolt to it with so much joy the way this surfer girl did. She was so good at surfing that she would have to have been surfing for years and still she was so excited, every time.

I was somewhat jealous of how happy she was and wondered if surfing would be something that would make me happy. I took it upon myself to go out and buy a second hand surfboard. I read up on a few surfing tips online and took to the water on smaller days. It wasn’t long before I noticed that surfing was all I could think about. I was reading up on a lot of surf history, skills and techniques online. I studied board types, surf locations and learnt how to read the charts. Even at night when I couldn’t surf I was watching surfing dvd’s and YouTube video’s before an early bedtime, ready for a dawn session the next morning.

Surfing became a slight obsession. When I wasn’t surfing, I was thinking about it. I started to meet new girlfriends that I surfed with during the week and they have since become my most dearest friends. I even left my job in the corporate world and worked at a café on the beach-front so I could be near the ocean. It was as if my entire life started to revolve around surfing.

It is now years later and I look back on my immensely depressive state. I remembered seeing that young surfer girl running at the ocean each day and I wondered how surfing could bring her so much joy. I now realize that it has done the same for me and I am so very thank full to be alive, healthy and happy today.

I know everyone can experience different forms of depression and anxiety. It’s not the same for everyone. But for me surfing was my outlet. Surfing is my happiness. And I wanted to let the girls know that surfing quiet possibly saved my life.

Xox

Credits // Author: Anonymous, You can find the original article here

Never wait for the wave after

Literally, never. That feeling when a new set is coming... The first wave looks good, but I bet the next one is better. Ok, I'll go with the second one. But even if sometimes it works, other times that wave never arrive. You'll be left into a flat ocean with a regret of not having took advantage of that opportunity.

Most of the times it turns out to be a lesson in life. Carpe diem is not just something exotic to say that will make you look cool. Others would say "go with the flow"... I prefer calling it a jump.
I realized that we don't jump often enough in life. Even when exciting, a new adventure or challenge can overwhelm us and make us take a step back. That is totally normal. We feel safer in our comfort zone and fear the unknown. So, we tell ourselves that "next time a better opportunity will come" or "I'll do it when I feel it". But you'll never be prepared for whatever life has planned for you. That doesn't mean closing your eyes and take unnecessary risks with no thought behind. But if you never seize the day, you'll never know whether the next opportunity will be better or not - you won't have a term of comparison.

So, jump into the blue and catch that wave! It wasn't that good? Don't worry, you'll try next time. But at least you know what you could have missed out.

Credits // Author: Marta Tomasini

About yoga & surf

I've never been that kind of surfer girl, all Indian tea and flowers in my hair. I did started attending a yoga class once, but ended after a while for lack of constancy.

Surfing and (before) snowboarding I've always had a love-hate relationship with my body, my always sore muscles and that feeling of tiredness that won't leave me for a while.

That's why I decided it's time to change. We own our body A LOT for all the efforts it makes to let us entertain. So, if we can't just treat it as a temple, let's say we can start by treating it as a luxury Parisian loft.... Which is not that bad!

Today I'm sharing with you the itw Surfragette had with the lovely Shaini Verdon - yogini, surfer, amazing human being, as well as a dear friend of mine. Shaini will tell us how practicing yoga improved her life and surf.
Maybe I'll start myself again!

MARTA: Hi Shaini! I'm so excited to be interviewing you! Introduce yourself to Surfragette's readers.

SHAINI: Hi Marta! Thanks so much for asking me, feel very honored! Love your blogposts & the whole retro vibe around Surfragette! So a bit about me: I am a yoga teacher, sharer, lover, carer, nature dweller, yogini, longboard surfing, bohemian traveler. Living life with my beautiful partner & our 2 dogs amidst an amazing coastal national park in the southwest of Portugal, where you and I have met each other over the years, sharing some stoke on some blissful waves.

M: When did you approach to yoga and why? What did inspire you?

S: My love for yoga started 14 years ago. And was obvious that it was going to happen, with my lovely bohemian hippy parents who shared their love for travelling & new age ways of living with me. Ever since then I have traveled around the world looking for waves & yoga teachers who I had the great experience to share yoga with.

M: How do you feel while doing yoga?

S: Yoga means union, union of the body, mind & soul. And this is exactly what it feels like. It makes me feel complete, spacious and more at ease. I guess in a way just like surfing, as this also gives you that feeling of oneness with the wave, no thoughts, just totally in the present moment. Surfing just misses out on the spaciousness of the body, as usually after a good, long surf session I feel more cramped up and in need of a good yoga session.

M: I've always wandered about the benefits of practicing yoga. How does it help in your everyday life?

S: Yoga helps me in so many ways in my everyday life. It helps me being aware of my body, my mind, how I react to different situation. Taking time before I react and seeing the moment first, nearly like life is more in slow motion because of practicing yoga, if that makes sense?

M: A lot of surfers practice it. Do you reckon yoga is related to surf? Why?

S: I always joke that yoga is great for my surfing, but surfing not so much for my yoga. As far as the body is concerned this is true, as Yoga really opens you up for your surf session, creates more balance, more strength, more flexibility. As for the mind yoga does as much for surfing, as surfing for yoga.  As I realized that surfing is pure meditation once you have got that wave, pure focus, I think many yogis take years & years to come to that moment, ha ha, maybe they should start surfing.

M: Did it change you as a surfer? How?

S: Yes absolutely. It helped me with my take offs, my breathe, my fear of bigger waves, all though the latter is still there.

M: Do you have any tips to give to surfers who want to start practicing yoga (like me, for example)?

S: Start with a nice and easy class, use the yoga to create alignment & space in the body and not for an extra aerobic workout, as you already do enough of that with surfing. The best yoga traditions to look for that offer this are Iyengar or Anusara.

M: Do have other advice for our beautiful readers?

S: One of the main things I have seen in the last 5 years that I have thought yoga to surfers at different surf schools and at Yogaion (Waves Within retreats) is that nearly all surfers create lower back problems, because they over arch the lower back too much while on their board. The best trick for this is to push your tailbone, which makes your pubic bone touch the board (much easier on a longer board..) try it on dry land first and then you know how it should feel in the water, so you can protect your lower back!

Namaste & with love,

Shaini (Yogaion, Waves Within retreats)

Thank you so much Shaini! It's been a pleasure talking with you, as usual.
Now I think I'm ready to go and get some stretching & moves done ;)



Credits // Author: Marta Tomasini & Shaini Verdon

Dance

When it's windy outside you put your fanciest skirt on and start dancing

Dance when you're tired because you can always sleep later

Dance at the beach because there's no better place to do it
Dance when your happy because it will make you feel even happier
Dance with somebody because two is better than one, but you can dance alone anyway
Dance when it's raining because you have the sun inside
Dance with your hands in the air because you'll be closer to the sky
Dance when there are no waves, because when the swell comes you'll be surfing it



Credits // Author: Marta Tomasini

Things that matter

If you thought that the life of a full-time-job/surfer was difficult, you never thought about the life of a full-time-job/surf-blogger. This is particularly true for those who don’t blog professionally, but just do it for their own pleasure.

Being a surfer while trying to build a career in another area means you're always torn between duty and passion, and you spend your spare time checking the forecasts and driving around to find the right spot to surf. And then what usually happens is that the tide isn't the right one, the waves aren't that good, the spot isn't working as it should.

And then comes the life of a surf blogger. This is the person who always takes her camera with her, and then forgets it the one time when the waves are oh-so-good… and yeah, I wish I had my camera with me. The one who thinks: ‘My readers would love that!’ and who spends her Sunday afternoons writing new articles and getting inspirations wherever she goes.

All for the love of it, trying to inspire other girls to follow their dreams.

I sometimes blame myself for not having a more "professional" style and not having higher quality pictures and poses.

But no, I'm not a pro, and I'm not surrounded by professional photographers snapping pictures in and out of the water wherever I go... Not that I don't wish for that, but it just isn't the case.

I have a wonderful boyfriend who on his birthday spends the afternoon trying to capture a few moments in the water for me, and then doesn't get mad when I complain that the light wasn't good, that he wasn't in the right position, and that I wished I surfed better...
Sure, this can't replace the best photographer, and maybe sometimes I wish I had a few more good pictures, but the love I'm surrounded by is the real thing that matters most.

So, to everyone out there, if you have a boyfriend, friend, or a sister who spends their time helping you achieve your goals, don't take it for granted.

Embrace the love you're surrounded by and smile.

And when you read this blog, think about the love and effort that I and the people who care about me put into it.


Spread the bliss.



Credits // Author: Marta Tomasini, Photography: Andrea Scatolero, One-piece swimwear: Adalù

Surfing and Gratitude

Hi all! This is Blair, coming to you from California! I am so excited to have the opportunity to reach out to you via Surfragette, to share my views, thoughts, experiences, and love of surfing with you. I’d like to start off with a few thoughts about how grateful I am for surfing. I’m sure many of you can relate, and I thought it would be a good place to start, since I am so grateful to be able to share here with you. Surfing is such a very special gift, and I am so thankful for it for so many reasons.

Surfing has brought so many gifts into my life, and I have so much appreciation for each of them. Truly, I can’t imagine life without surfing, as it plays such a large part in my life and who I am as a person. But with all that I have gained, it would not mean so much if it weren’t for the gratitude that I have for surfing to put things into perspective.

Surfing is for me, as I’m sure it is for many of you, my passion. It allows me to get through the week with sanity and a clearer perspective as to what is most important. Sometimes life can get difficult, but because I have surfing to make me happy and give me strength and peace, I know I can get through the challenges that I am faced with. I realize that I am very fortunate to be able to have something that allows me to express myself in a constructive way and makes me so happy, and I feel that everyone needs a similar sort of outlet/escape from the world. For each of us, whether it is surfing, another sport, photography, music, or art, I believe that each of us should strive to find what lights us up inside, and gives us that inner glow so that we can be the best we can be for the world. It is so important to have something like that, as it gives an important meaning and purpose to life.

As I was teaching a friend to surf recently, I realized how I have changed in terms of my perspective of my daily surf sessions. Although I always feel better after I have surfed (even after a bad session), I was startled to realize that now it takes more to make me happy than when I first began. When I was new to surfing, it would make my entire week if I caught a single wave! Over time I have gotten pickier about the conditions, and less satisfied if I didn’t catch a lot of waves. Of course my skill level has improved significantly in that time, so it is natural to expect more from myself, but at the same time I should be more thankful just for the chance to paddle out and play in the sea. I have been working on this every day, and as a result I have gained more happiness, bliss, stoke, and gratitude. I will continue to work on it, but I encourage each of you to not take the little things for granted, and try to be happy in the moment, especially if you’re surfing.

“Life is short, do what you love” – Garrett McNamara, big wave surfer

Credits // Author: Blair Buder