Surfing the Perfect Wave: A Metaphor for Life

How a sunrise surf session taught me what really matters.

I remember it vividly; the day I found my favourite place in the whole world.

It started early, in my rented bedroom of a wooden, clapboard house in northern Wellington, New Zealand. Rob—my adopted New Zealand father—was due to pick me up before dawn. Sure enough, my phone rang around 4am as he and his son, Andrew, pulled up outside in a red Ford estate, boards on the roof, ready to go. I scrambled to get my things together, wiped the sleep from my eyes, and dashed out to meet them, trying not to wake my housemate with my excited clatter.