{"id":112,"date":"2024-04-28T18:07:24","date_gmt":"2024-04-28T18:07:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rhythmwryter.me\/?page_id=112"},"modified":"2025-03-07T16:56:19","modified_gmt":"2025-03-07T16:56:19","slug":"digital-narratives","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/rhythmwryter.me\/?page_id=112","title":{"rendered":"Digital Narratives"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-video\"><video height=\"720\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1280 \/ 720;\" width=\"1280\" controls src=\"http:\/\/rhythmwryter.me\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Surfing-Lesson.mp4\"><\/video><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">surfing lesson<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-verse\"><em>A human cruise ship riding a riptide adjacent a North facing cliff wall amidst an indentation carved from a water\u2019s rhythm, a cove exposed uncharted waters for me and my new Hammer surfboard. A peaceful voyage towards my destination which surfers call \u201cthe break\u201d: a point at which waves meet the ocean floor due to it becoming shallow enough to cause the ocean swell to crest and spill over.<br><br>This was game time. As I looked up to witness the first wave of a massive set, I realized that this was a big ole nasty pre-winter swell. Beautiful, gorgeous, beautiful destruction. My level of comfort plummeted as I realized that I absolutely had to continue with the riptide before angling out of it. The sooner I made my exit, the more dangerous it would be. I needed to get as close to where the waves were actually breaking as possible. Getting caught in the impact zone by navigating out of the riptide too soon is no bueno.<br><br>As I paddled and angled from the rip I slowly made my way out and into a great plains ocean landscape. Experiencing a bit of an adrenaline dump I perched atop my board to survey my surroundings. Within 30 seconds or so I sounded out an \u201cohh fuck\u201d. There was a set ready to feast in front of me. This was going to suck. I was in the impact zone and was going to take a pounding.<br><br>The first wave broke about 15 yards from where I was stationed. The explosion rattled my ears. It was time to hunker down. As the wave burst off of the flat surface before it, a volcanic eruption screamed towards the sky. There was white water everywhere, about to bang down on my head. I pushed my board aside and dove down into the dark depths. I could hear the volumes of water rage above me. They met me quickly and pushed me further into the depths. I was disoriented and not necessarily scared, just concerned. I gently allowed my eyes to open, I just wanted a peek\u2026\u2026nothingness, a new color. I had no idea how deep I really was.<br><br>I paddled in new swimmer fashion towards the surface, frantic, and not conservative with my energy - *air was thin*. As I breached the surface, another mammoth wave was breaking. I whispered a rally cry \u2014 *let\u2019s \u2014 fucking \u2014 go*. I took in as much air as possible and tried to dive - *DEEP*. The crashing waves above sent me into a spin cycle while driving me deeper into depths which felt like leagues. I hoped to draw contact with the sandy floor below. I wanted to touch down so I could spring off the bottom for extra momentum. \u2014 *No floor, all swim.*<br><br>The surface felt unattainable in the moments my squinting eyes revealed a watery dark grave approaching. *\u2014 I let myself go. \u2014*  I knew freaking out wouldn\u2019t help but I also knew I couldn\u2019t take much more of this. I broke the surface once again and bellied up to my board. I spoke aloud, *\u201cI cant take much more of this\u201d.* It was a moment I will never forget. I spoke to mother nature, mother ocean. ***\u2014 \u201cI am yours\u201d \u2014*** I know my place.<br><br>Yet another wave was about to break as I was melting in exhaustion atop my board. The wave broke ahead of me, I spun my board around towards the shore, hoping to just absorb the blow and take it from there. The wave broke sooner than I expected however, far enough away for me to gather myself and wonder why. The ocean floor must have had a deeper section created over time by shifting swell directions.  Even as a novice surfer I knew this was common.<br><br>The wave subdued and created what is called \u2018reform\u2019. This is when a wave breaks but then passes over a deeper section and gradually reforms into a new wave often smaller in size. This all happened with enough distance for me to realize a new wave was eventually coming and I could potentially ride this one in!<br><br>This was a gift from the goddess. A small reform wave started crumbling towards me, one I had all the confidence in the world of riding. I felt its energy and drew it in as I stood up on my 6\u20193\u201d Hammer. It felt surreal, like the hand of a deity guiding me to safety after an incredible, humbling lesson. I rode straight into knee deep water, hopped off and thanked the ocean for what it had given me. I shlogged through the whitewater towards the beach, head down, in awe of what I had just experienced.<br><br>This story is 20 plus years old now and I continue to live by the lesson it taught me.<\/em><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">lost and found in portland<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text alignfull is-stacked-on-mobile\" style=\"grid-template-columns:67% auto\"><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><video controls src=\"http:\/\/rhythmwryter.me\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Lost-And-Found-In-Portland-Oregon.mp4\"><\/video><\/figure><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>surfing lesson A human cruise ship riding a riptide adjacent a North facing cliff wall amidst an indentation carved from a water\u2019s rhythm, a cove exposed uncharted waters for me and my new Hammer surfboard. A peaceful voyage towards my destination which surfers call \u201cthe break\u201d: a point at which waves meet the ocean floor [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":2,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"brizy-blank-template.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-112","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Digital Narratives - menglish<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/rhythmwryter.me\/?page_id=112\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Digital Narratives - menglish\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"surfing lesson A human cruise ship riding a riptide adjacent a North facing cliff wall amidst an indentation carved from a water\u2019s rhythm, a cove exposed uncharted waters for me and my new Hammer surfboard. A peaceful voyage towards my destination which surfers call \u201cthe break\u201d: a point at which waves meet the ocean floor [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/rhythmwryter.me\/?page_id=112\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"menglish\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-03-07T16:56:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@rhythmwryter\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/rhythmwryter.me\/?page_id=112\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/rhythmwryter.me\/?page_id=112\",\"name\":\"Digital Narratives - menglish\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/rhythmwryter.me\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2024-04-28T18:07:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-03-07T16:56:19+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/rhythmwryter.me\/?page_id=112#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/rhythmwryter.me\/?page_id=112\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/rhythmwryter.me\/?page_id=112#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\/\/rhythmwryter.me\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"menglish&#8230;\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/rhythmwryter.me\/?page_id=2\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Digital Narratives\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/rhythmwryter.me\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/rhythmwryter.me\/\",\"name\":\"menglish\",\"description\":\"creative writing, poetry, spoken word, nature, living your rhythm\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/rhythmwryter.me\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\/\/rhythmwryter.me\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/rhythmwryter.me\/#organization\",\"name\":\"rhythmMedia\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/rhythmwryter.me\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/rhythmwryter.me\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/rhythmwryter.me\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/IMG_1145-scaled.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/rhythmwryter.me\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/IMG_1145-scaled.jpeg\",\"width\":1920,\"height\":2560,\"caption\":\"rhythmMedia\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/rhythmwryter.me\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/x.com\/rhythmwryter\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/rhythmwryter\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@rhythmwryter\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Digital Narratives - menglish","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/rhythmwryter.me\/?page_id=112","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Digital Narratives - menglish","og_description":"surfing lesson A human cruise ship riding a riptide adjacent a North facing cliff wall amidst an indentation carved from a water\u2019s rhythm, a cove exposed uncharted waters for me and my new Hammer surfboard. 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