피자베아 (Pija Bea) 🍕🐻

For those of us who ride waves, we know that it is often a profound experience. The joys are obvious: gliding along the surface of the water, feeling the seaspray on our face. But we know it’s more than that too. There is something about waveriding that pulls at us; when we get a good wave, the feeling is more than the chemical interaction of adrenaline in our bodies. There is a connection to our naʻau, a feeling that we are doing something that is a part of more than just us. And ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi gives us a clue as to why.

The roots of the English word “wave” just refer to its to-and-fro movement, but the word “nalu” refers to so much more. It is the word for the waves we ride in the ocean and the waves in the grain of wood, but it also means to ruminate or ponder or meditate on something. When you nalu i loko, you think deeply and reflectively.

How often does waveriding (and even waveriders) get dismissed as frivolous or merely a diversion? Yet nalu connects the waves to a vital aspect of our existence as kānaka. Our manaʻo. Our way of thinking about the world and all the things that happen in it. Nalu shapes how we view the world and how we move through it. When aliʻi would make important decisions, they were often described as having to nalu. So when you heʻe nalu or slide/ride the nalu, you are moving along more than just the waves, you are sliding along your thoughts.

Nalu is also so much about connection. It is also the word for amniotic fluid, the protective nourishing liquid that surrounded all of us as babies. Nalu is what encircles us from the earliest times of growth, enabling us to develop and thrive. The fact that a single word means wave, deep thought, and amniotic fluid is not just an accident of meaning. It is a Hawaiian recognition that all of these things are connected. So the next time you are slotted right in the pocket with a long steep wall setting up in front of you remember that the joy you are feeling comes from being connected to the ocean, your self, and your ancestors.

---
#surfphotography #surfphotographer #longboard #surfing #olelohawaii #slideladyslide