This blog post is dedicated to my brother, Don who lives in Hawaii.
I visited Hawaii several years ago and saw the very same bumper sticker on cars, on walls of buildings, on posters on telephone poles, and spray painted on fences with the following words: “Eddie Would Go.”
My curiosity was getting the better of me and I wondered to myself, “who is Eddie, and where would he go?” I began asking people and there seemed to be love in the hearts of many about this Eddie dude. At the airport on my way back to the “mainland,” I saw a book titled “Eddie Would Go,” by Stuart Holmes. I bought the book and read it quickly. Eddie Aikau was a Hawaiian lifeguard, surfer and now a hero.
Eddie was very well known for his lifeguard post at Waimea Bay on the island of Oahu. The surf break at Waimea was significant in the development of big wave surfing, reaching 20 feet at times, and now home to major surf contests like the Quicksilver Big Wave Invitational. Surfers fly in from all over the world where they wait and see if the waves are large enough to hold the contest. If not, everyone goes home and returns the next year.
Eddie was always the first one to paddle out to the big waves where others remained on the beach scared. Tourists and inexperienced surfers often found themselves in trouble out in the pounding surf of Waimea Bay and, of course, Eddie would go and rescue them.
I love the spiritual inspiration of Eddie Aikau. I might consider the 20 foot waves at Waimea Bay part of the inner kingdom, a place where not many dare to navigate.
I have been sensing a call to go deeper lately and as I do, I imagine Eddie Aikau for my inspiration. I sense a place within me that is still unchartered, more unknown area for me to navigate.
Sometimes taking a deep plunge into the depths of the soul can seem like staring at a 20 foot wave, being beckoned to dive in and give it a shot. I’m going to go for it...not surfing 20 foot waves, but surfing the depths of my soul without fear. Eddie would go.
Let's go!
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