Finding Your 100-Foot Wave
I’ve been watching a series on HBO called 100 Foot Wave. It follows a professional big wave surfer and his quest to ride a 100-foot wave. The series’s main focus is Garrett McNamara. It also highlights his wife, his surfer peers on similar quests, and other surfers flocking to Nazare, Portugal in search of the next big wave.
I’ve enjoyed watching Garrett as he relentlessly pursues his passion for big wave surfing, despite the ocean’s multiple attempts to prevent him from finding and riding the 100-foot wave. I don’t recommend a passion that puts your life with every attempt, but the series shows that once you find your true passion—your authentic life, it’s hard not to continue your Pursuit. Garrett, his wife, and the other surfers have all built their lives around their passion for surfing and the Pursuit of the world’s biggest waves.
100 Foot Wave is full of individuals, not just Garrett, who have been lucky enough to identify their passion in life, which could ultimately end their lives, but rather than focus on the big wave surfers, it was an ocean cinematographer who caught my attention. Like the surfers, the ocean cinematographer’s passion put him in harm’s way as he spent his career in and under the waves capturing some of the most iconic surf films.
Mike Prickett, the most respected cinematographer, is the best in the world at what he does. His passion and commitment to capturing surf’s finest moments have led to him being the go-to cinematographer for the biggest competitions, movies, and commercials that involve surfing. After 40 years of filming, he has become the standard all ocean cinematographers pursue with their craft.
Mike may not have been in as much danger as the surfers he was filming throughout his career, but spending hours in the ocean does not come without its risks. However, it was not a filming or surfing accident that put his passion for filmmaking in jeopardy. In 2012, while filming a commercial in Tahiti, Prickett noticed a diver caught in a down current and he swam down 220 feet to help save the diver.
During the recovery he realized his oxygen tank did not have enough for both the diver and him, so they had to complete an emergency ascent which meant they would not have the time, or oxygen, to slowly finish the ascent to the surface allowing the body to properly pressurize. This resulted in an oxygen bubble settling in his spine putting him in the hospital in a hyperbolic pressure chamber and ultimately paralyzed from the waist down.
Without the use of his legs, it would have been expected that his days as an ocean cinematographer were over. Not only did Prickett have to overcome the physical challenges of not using his legs, but there had to be intense emotional scarring from such a traumatic experience.
It SHOULD have been a career-ending experience.
Prickett’s passion for his craft would not be denied and he not only worked himself back to being able to walk with the assistance of crutches, but he adapted the way he films to coordinate with cameras in the water and using drones. From the back of a van, Prickett can direct and film at the same high quality he did when he was in the water. His love for ocean cinematography and filming surfers was so strong he was not willing to let it go and adapted his approach and style to continue his Pursuit.
His passion would not be denied.
What would you do if you found yourself in a similar situation and experienced a traumatic accident that threatened your way of life?
How would you feel?
What would you do?
Would you adapt your ways to continue your Pursuit?
Hopefully, you never have an experience like Mike Prickett. But, hopefully, you find your authentic life, as Prickett has, that allows you to find your passions in life that cannot be denied.
See you tomorrow and keep pursuing,
JC
