The soul of the surfboard

There is a kind of drum called a djembe (pronounced jem bay) that is made by simple tribesman using only the most basic of hand tools. The body of the drum is hollowed out from a single block of wood taken from the trunk of a tree. The skin is made from the hide of a beast that was killed for food.

These people are very much in tune with nature. When they kill an animal for food the tribe gathers in prayer. They apologize to the beast for taking its life. They thank it for making the sacrifice that allows the tribe to live on, and they pray for its soul to pass safely into the afterlife.

They show the same reverence for the tree. Before the craftsman fells the tree that will make the body of the drum, he chooses that tree carefully and may say that the tree chose him. He prays for that tree and makes peace with its soul.

I find this profound respect and reverence to be inspirational.

It is said that the djembe has three souls; the soul of the tree that gave its trunk, the soul of the beast that gave its hide, and the soul of the craftsman that toiled over them to make the drum.

It is said that when the djembe is played you can hear all three souls sing in harmony. If any of those souls were not properly respected in the making of the drum it will not sing and the voice of the drum will not be true.

I try to keep this in mind when I build a hollow wooden surfboard. The hollow wooden surfboard can have as many souls as the variety of wood that goes into it, plus the soul of the craftsman. If all of these souls are in harmony the surfboard can truly sing when it is ridden. If we fail to respect the soul of the wood or if the soul of the craftsman is not in the right place, the surfboard will suffer. It may float and it may surf but it will certainly not sing true.