Out in the ocean, there is nothing but me and the waves. The world fades away.

I paddle out to sea on my surfboard, struggling through the burning in my arms and body. The waves crash into me and my mouth fills with a saltiness so pungent it takes my breath away. What a plunge into existence. What a way to feel alive, struggling against this beast.

And then, turning around and catching the breaking water...the acceleration into air...the rumbling beneath me. It is as if the ocean has become a part of me, no longer an enemy but a bird that lifts me free.

I can see nothing but water. I can hear nothing but the waves. I can taste nothing but the saltiness. I can feel nothing but the cold living liquid against my body.

And though my body is aching, screaming at me to give up and go back to shore....there is nothing I want more but to head back out into the swirling water, to become the sea.

Surfing has changed my life.

"Surfing and life can be defined as how well you can get on the back of this shifting beast."

-Sam Bleakley