I'm not surfing much anymore, but I love hiking and gardening, and I'm always wearing a hat and sunblock. — Carolyn Murphy

I'm not surfing much anymore, but I love hiking and gardening, and I'm always wearing a hat and sunblock.

Author: Carolyn Murphy

Insight: There's something quietly radical about a statement like this—it sounds simple, almost throwaway, but it's actually someone making a deliberate choice about what matters. Carolyn Murphy could still be doing the thing she's famous for, the thing that defined her. Instead, she's moved toward activities that feel slower, more connected to the actual world beneath her feet. And she's protecting herself while doing it. That shift from surfing to hiking and gardening mirrors something a lot of us eventually figure out: what we loved at one stage doesn't have to be what we love forever. But what's interesting is that she didn't just swap one adrenaline rush for another. She chose activities that are fundamentally about patience—watching things grow, moving through a landscape at a human pace. The hat and sunblock aren't an afterthought either; they're acknowledgment that taking care of yourself isn't boring or vain. It's actually part of respecting the life you want to keep living. This resonates now because so many of us feel pressure to stay locked into old versions of ourselves. The permission to evolve, to choose differently, and to protect yourself in the process—that's worth thinking about.