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I run out of the water with my surfboard under my arm and make my way towards my stuff. Once I reach my beach blanket, I set my board down, unzip my wetsuit and practically collapse on the blanket.
This has become a tradition of mine in the last few years. I wake up at 5am, head down to the beach and surf until sunrise. I don't think I'll ever get over living so close to the beach, especially a California beach. It's so grounding to be able to go to the beach whenever you want, stare out at the ocean and realize how insignificant your problems are in comparison to how big the world is. Just another spec on a planet with billions of specs.
The waves today were insane so by the time I'm finished, I'm exhausted and let myself rest on the blanket for a few minutes before heading back to my house. I like to use this time to reflect on myself and my life. I feel like life moves so fast. It's nice to wake up early and get some alone time with myself and the world.
I'm starting feel like I'm at a weird point in my life where I'm going to need to make some decisions soon. Life has been pretty good for a while now and that's definitely not a bad thing, but when life feels so easy for a few years, there's bound to be a shakeup soon. I'm a little unsure of where it's going to come from though. Everything in my life seems so stable.
I know. Who would have ever thought that I, Johanna Spencer, would be saying that her life is easy and stable? After everything I've gone through in my life, never in a million years did I think that I would say those words. Yet here I am. Amazing job, amazing boyfriend, stable income, living in my dream location. Unproblematic and uncomplicated.
Don't get it twisted though. It wasn't always like this. As you know, I've had a lot of ups and downs and it wasn't until a few years ago that things started being okay. I'm simply very fortunate it stayed that way. Looking back on everything that happened before, at the person I was, it's all very different from the way things are now.
But I feel like that's a story for another time.
I merely wanted to point out that I'm happy right now and that's when things tend to go wrong. I'm hoping that this time they won't, but I just have a feeling they will.
Once I feel like I've caught my breath, I strip off my wetsuit, throw on a big t-shirt, collect all my stuff and head towards my car. Another thing I like about my life is my car. I saved up for so many years to buy this car, it has actually been a dream of mine for forever. It's a Ford baby blue Bronco, which is the ideal beach car. It's perfect because I can ride down the beach with my top and windows down and feel the wind in my hair.
After situating my surfboard on my car, I hop in and head back to my house. It's only a ten minute walk to the beach, but I like to take every opportunity possible to use this car. I got extremely lucky with this house. It was actually my grandmother's house, she bought it way back in the seventies when it was significantly cheaper and held onto it until she passed away four years ago. She left it to me in her will and I've been living in it ever since I graduated from UC San Diego three years ago. It's a quaint little house, but the property is huge and I plan on expanding the house when I'm older. When I pull into my driveway, I check the time -- 6:45am -- which means my boyfriend should be up. I collect my stuff and make my way inside, stopping in the kitchen to start the coffee machine, knowing that he will be needing it as soon as he gets up.
