The author reflects on the moral implications of enjoying life during challenging times, like the ongoing societal and environmental crises. After a year of struggles, the author turned to surfing as a means to cope with personal and global issues. The experience revealed the intertwined nature of joy and tragedy, especially highlighted by the repercussions of Hurricane Maria on Puerto Rico, which also affected surf conditions at the Jersey Shore. Ultimately, surfing provided an escape, albeit one set against a backdrop of awareness about the wider world.
I found myself wondering if having a good time during bad times makes me a bad person. Is it moral to enjoy a world at the intersection of looming AI apocalypse, climate catastrophe, and societal breakdown?
Great waves in one place often start with tragedy someplace else. Nowhere is this truer than on the Jersey Shore, where I learned to surf.
During my first few months in the water, I found a clever way of setting aside concerns that a broken world made fun immoral: I didn't have any.
A year devoted primarily to wine and PlayStation didn't help. In 2022, approaching my 36th birthday and desperate to break free from a downward spiral of depression, I bought my first surf board.
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