“The biggest problem was it kept happening. My wife had to travel with me for years.”
A terrific new entrant into the surf podcast arena is Soundings, hosted by Jamie Brisick, the thirty-year veteran surf journalist from Malibu, California.
Part thriller, part melodrama, all page-turner. To be and not to be is the result.
Lately, Brisick has become the voice of the Surfer’s Journal podcast, Soundings. His silky baritone vibrates like muted thunder, the sound coming from so deep in his throat its hard not be shivered with excitement.
Episode four is with Dane Reynolds, the thirty-six-year-old father of three, filmmaker, vlogger and former world number four surfer from Bakersfield in California.
Many topics are covered. Reynolds talks slowly, as if stiffed on a one-hundred dollar bag of coke. Brisick deftly leads the conversation.
The interview gets good when Reynolds dips into the anxiety he felt when he was on the tour in his mid-twenties, as well as his fear of winning a surf event.
“Twenty-six is a weird transitional part of your life,” Reynolds says. “That year was learning to be an adult and being a professional surfer doesn’t teach you to be an adult. I was putting too much pressure on myself to do the best surfing I’ve ever done and, basically, wearing myself thin and it unknowingly spilled over during a heat with Gabriel Medina… during the heat I was in a complete panic…as anyone who has had a panic attack knows, I thought I was dying. When I got out I ran to the car, called my girlfriend, she was at a wedding, and said I think I’m dying. I was driving to the hospital and she talked me out of it. She’d had experiences like that before, and then I just passed out.”
Reynolds tells Briz, “The biggest problem was it kept happening. I was in Mexico and it happened again. I was going into a grocery store in town and it happened again. Suddenly, I couldn’t go outside. Courtney (Reynolds’ wife) couldn’t have people over. I locked myself into the house for months. There was no ending for months. I went to lots of therapy, had medication but, even then, my wife had to travel with me for years.”
Brisick says to Reynolds he imagined a day when Reynolds won a contest ‘cause he figured it would have a transformative effect, maybe give him the drive to chase title.
“I don’t think that was ever in the cards,” says Reynolds, “mostly because I had a weird thing. I was scared of winning a contest. I didn’t want to know how it felt. I didn’t want to get carried up the beach. I wanted to get there, but then I’d blow it and get second. Not on purpose. It was a weird mental block.”
Essential listening.
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PV with a telephoto lens, but the perspective may be too far north.
I’m a shit surfer and never been famous but somehow blagged my way into some pretty high pressure jobs in major cities with serious amounts of other peoples’ money on the line if I fucked up. Meanwhile faking loving my wife (not in the closet she was just horrible) and putting on the suburban dream for the wider world.
All the time I was just a scared kid who wanted to be down the beach. Used to do this kind of freak out screaming cry to myself in private. Sometimes I literally lost control, kind of semi conscious but delirious and would wake up or come around somewhere totally different. Really weird. Never diagnosed but I presume they were panic attacks.
Unlike Dane I had the privilege of being able to give it all up and move away. Still under pressure but I literally couldn’t give a shit if I fail anymore and that’s how I cope.
Feel bad for the guy, he’s getting older with 3 kids a wife and presumably not much else as a back up plan than selling his image in a young persons’ sport to keep the lights on.
I was talking to a young fella from work about an international trip he’d just come back from. He said this had triggered anxiety attacks which he hadn’t realised he suffered from. I’d responded that it was pretty understandable, given traveling overseas, even just flying, can be as nerve-wracking as it is exciting. I was surprised that this made him quite angry, as he said he wasn’t at all scared, as I was suggesting, but that he suffered anxiety. I was deeply confused by the whole exchange.
Should have punched the angry little cunt in the face
Head, I win
There’s something weird about his mindset that turning 26 made him think he was finally an adult.
Anxiety may be a consequence of it (gotta get a haircut and get a real job happens to us all) but not the cause. Fuck, that guy had a what was it, 23 million dollar cotract with quik at the time??
Not gonna deny that Anxiety isnt a thing but surely that relates to contest resuts or interview.
Becoming an adult? Fuck man that happens at 18 or 21.
Not in the surf industry
Becoming a adult and acknowledging you are one and acting accordingly are two different things and usually up to a decade apart. (Or two decades like a couple of my mates!)
Email notifications turned on is pretty dedicated.
That photo is everything I like about Dane.
“Wake up! Its 1984…but we’ve been here before!”
learning to be an adult at 26…
I remember thinking of myself as a man not a boy at 26.
work at 14, go figure…
That LA? Salt Lake? And I’m assuming from your house?
Agreed, it genuinely feels like you are dying at the time. Panic attacks are heavy.
Hey Koa, I found your bike mate.
Learning how to be an adult at 26 is stifling, and unfair.
Paging Dr. Lexus:
https://www.youtube.com/wat…
Anxiety is really just another lib excuse to insist that gov-sponsored health care (welfare) is necessary and in turn, makes it a “right” for all citizens. They (the libs) love to use celebrities to push this agenda. Fake medical issues like mental health being the fav cause celebre. Damn snowflakes need to pull themselves up by their bootstraps!
http://www.somelittlereadrag.com
How’d I do Otto?
Libtard*
Biden. Hunter. Pedophilia. Trump is my savior. etc. etc.
Mental illness really is a bitch.
Sometimes I get anxiety commenting on BG.
You can probably get a group rate on therapy.
Dane has 3 kids. No therapy can assist with that. Don’t know how the Mormons and others who dont practice birth control can handle 6 to 8 of them.
I’m the fifth of six kids. At pub trivia with my dad one night many years ago the question came up ‘how many times does the average married couple have sex?’ to which dad yelled out ‘seven, I shot one blank.’
I thought it was a joke at the time
100% Catholic.
Labor, Knights, Catholic – in that order
One outta 3 ain’t bad
don’t know how the planet can handle overpopulation
More kids than parents with pairs of eyes is fucked, hence the polygamy.
sometimes i get anxiety reading your comments on BG
Mismo
I had similar when I was sixteen, but it wasn’t prompted by the pressures of surf stardom. Rather a genetic disposition to mental illness, and excessive marijuana consumption.
Edit: haha. Look how un-hyped Dane looks in that photo full of gronks.
That photo looks like a thumbnail from XNXX
Title – Kyiv all-male Gang-B&*g
Had to google what XNXX was
How’d that work out for ya?
Same at 21, maybe the pot, maybe the LSD, or maybe both. I think it took me about 6 months to get right again.
Yeah. Six months also. Rough as.
I was lucky I guess with the amount of weed I smoked, but knew a couple of guys who were bright chipper young things one day, and after a heavy weekend partying were carted off having had some sort of psychotic break and were never right since. And this was on hash / weed which was relatively low-grade stuff. It’s all in the genetics. Poor Rab is still totally fucked 30 years later. He’s a Buddhist monk now but I’m guessing still taking horse tablets of lithium or whatever.
Being in my fourth decade of counting time here on Earth. I still regularly partake in “excessive marijuana consumption” and the odd LSD/psilocybin episode all in the name wonder and fun. Cutting back to nearly eliminating alcohol consumption has been the biggest game-changer for me accompanied with a healthy-ish life style. Mental health is it’s own demon (literally) and if you’re not in a good headspace it’s probably best to avoid any/all mind-altering substances. In closing, said substances do have a way of bring the brain back to a happy place if you let them. Mahalo.
Yeah. I miss weed. I can’t imagine being baked around my kids / family though.
I can respect that all day long sir…I’m just a stony funcle here. No kids I’m aware of.
I posted above before I saw yours…..I cant seem to tolerate being baked or smoking strong dispensary strains……just…ugg. I think my metabolism has changed or something, do not like the overdoing it. Paranoia, weird guilt, cant focus., scattered …so, I only microdose. Teeny pipe, small amounts its Ok.
Only at night, after work. Like a cup of coffee. I cant drink much either, gross thick head., loss of balance……..perhaps coffee owns my soul?
later channelperson
Aloha Thai Stick man. Well I finally got my medical 329 card for some 420 last week. Got tired of waiting for Hawaii to fully legalize it. The dispensary here wasn’t anything like the legal pot shops I visited in Oregon and the prices here are farkin outrageous. I purchased a variety of strains but as a former high volume grower of Thai elephant/Hawaiian hybrids, I still think dispensaries harvest their weed way too early. I prefer my kolas sparkling and dripping ripe. Anyway, after I left the dispensary I flashed back to the days of Operation Green Harvest and dodging the Feds and local corrupt thieving cops and otherwise being absolutely vilified for being a surfer stoner grower. I still recall the paranoia a few weeks before harvest, camping out in the mountains, miles above Waialee/Velzyland, guarding my crops under full camo and armed to the teeth with my finger on the trigger. I never thought I’d see the day when I could legally purchase a fine variety. I still think flower is best esp since you can calibrate the high. Edibles and others tend to overdose. Time to wake, bake and paddle out. Cheers mon.
Love love this! ⬆Wake. Bake. Paddle out. Repeat. Sativa hybrids all day and Indica at night Lol. Yes the paranoia/anxiety is very real when nearing harvest time. One can never be too careful. Homegrown outdoor > Dispensary fer sure…but the varieties and specials and just the fact you can walk into a store and buy pot is pretty cool as well! Aloha!
Thank you for your service back in the day. I hear you can get 3 to 4 harvests per year in Hawaii growing outdoor. And can grow the long flowering haze varieties, those will really get the anxiety wheels turning.
Ha that’s funny. With some potent weed you gotta get past that initial anxious phase then it smooths out. With heroin, you know you’re gonna hafta puke and with blow you know you’re gonna drop a load. Once past all that, it’s smooth as can be.
I periodically go down the rabbit hole of reading about Thai stick and original land race Sativa strains which often were first grown in the islands. I went to captain cook area for abit 1977 and 1978, and got to see/help/brainstorm (just got my BS degree in Env St) some of the first semi”secret” grows, done with some science in mind, not just tossing seeds around. Mind blown. Didnt smoke much as it was growing time, but later sampled the worlds finest. No doubt in my mind, even today, that HA grown herbs are the best. Just the best ever. IMHO Hot sun, cool breeze, pure water? I dunno, I’ve tried everything else from everywhere, nothing ever comes close. The fragrance is astounding. Prices always freaked me out, hence trying to copy the island scene here.
All that said, it is weird to just get herbs from a store……I pretty much gave up surf traveling in order to try and be an herb farmer here in Cito.. Not really much of a success, coastal fog and fall coolness always were a battle. Still, surf was ok them days and I regret none of it. Still like to microdose a bit here and there, still a Sativa Believa! Indica is dumb, I guess ok for pain and nausea or eating issues.
Ok Aloha Huli and thanx for those tales!!!
PS not sure if you are interested, but great stories are at the forum link below. Ive been trying to track down chocolate thai tales and descriptions of same for years, so these references were fun to read. Modern times, sheesh….all the crosses…..thisXthat or thatX this!! Makes my head hurt.
https://www.icmag.com/forum…
Mahalo nui SB. I love stories from the good old days of outdoor cultivation. I agree, the combo of of elements here makes for the most prime pakalolo. You might be happy to know that Teshima’s restaurant is still operating in Captain Cook. Thanx for the link.
Panic attacks happen with or without any kinds of drugs, legal or illegal.
I never said they didn’t
they’re illusions put on by the a Beelzebub.
The mind is a terrible thing to waste. Had a mental break for a few days in my late teens, likely the result of too much weed and some unaddressed trauma. Laid off the THC for awhile and bounced back. Smoking all day every day is not good for me and I don’t consume like that anymore.
Anxiety is a different bird. Around age 27, I was going a bit mad with drinking and powder for a few days. Had my first panic attack on the drive home. Scariest shit ever, but I was fine after the doc gave me something to calm down. Now, without fail, I’ll get panic attack symptoms anytime I have more than like 5-6 drinks in one night. Hard drugs? Fuckin forget about it, not worth the panic.
TLDR: maybe Dane’s panic attacks were caused by drinking too much. Coping with the pressure by drinking is not uncommon. Vicious cycle if you start drinking the next day to ease the anxiety from drinking too much the night before. Only thing that helps is limiting your consumption
I always wondered what was wrong with that kid, now I wish I didn’t know
Don’t like to make light of a mental health disorder, but I do like that angle!
So next time the misses wants to invite friends and/or family over instead of saying – “nar f%^k that, told ya I don’t want those queer c&*ts here” I just say i’m anxious.
Even better, and way more stigmatising, fake a covid.
Sniff something then sniff more, they’ll run to the Hills and never come back. Even 4 shotters.
My wife is next to me and just heard me laughing loudly, I had to shut the laptop and lie that I thought of something funny she had said earlier in the day. Fuck so good. Well played Andy C!
A problem shared is a problem halved brother
Figured you O.B. guys would be a little stronger than that. P whipped big time
My goal is to get whipped by my better half, she’s not down though. So I often find myself south of the border at Hong Kong. If you’re ever there ask for the “Steak Sandwich.” Thank me later….