Duotone Diversity Magazine No.02 2020

Walter, as a surfer and personality development coach you’ve been training and qualifying inspirational coaches in your company for many years now. What’s your definition of diversity? Diversity in the human sense means to live, think and exist outside your own little box. To be open-minded, to pay attention to the diversity all around, to love it and to be creative with it. I feel there are many social tendencies right now revolving around nurturing “one’s own self” and retreating to “yours”; thus, to disconnect from this diversity. But kitesurfers don’t disconnect and isolate themselves? No, no, I’m referring to general trends in society worldwide. The opposite is true for kitesurfers. Kitesurfers live this openness and are curious and open to diversity. The same applies to surfers, windsurfers and all water boardsports enthusiasts. They connect cross-culturally with the diversity of nature. It’s a basic principle of our sport: no wave is ever the same nor is the wind. There is always this great variety of possibilities in our sport. For example in tennis, it’s the total contrary, the court never moves nor does the net lift up or lower. For kitesurfers constant change is perfectly normal and it’s simply part of the sport. This flexibility to adapt to and be at ease with constant change characterizes kitesurfers – that’s their mindset. Where does this mindset of watersports people stem from? Is it past experiences or more of an attitude? Or is it about going along with what is? The minority of kitesurfers has the perfect kiting conditions right outside the doorstep. Thus, they have got to be on the move a lot, head out and travel to all kind of spots, different beaches, often in foreign countries. To live their passion, they have to venture far outside their own four walls, chasing “that feeling” in the constantly changing diversity of Mother Nature. But let’s look at the even bigger picture: For any kitesurfer thinking across boundaries is a basic principle, it’s part of this sport, the sport that we fully and whole- heartedly engage with. Kitesurfing involves an experience that’s completely independent of skin color or language. Kitesurfers are open-minded towards new experiences, new contacts, fun and joy. What they experience varies with the constantly changing conditions of the weather, the surroundings, the people they’re with or meet … As a kiter you need to be flexible – which spot will I pick today and how can I make the best of the conditions and everything that comes my way there. That’s one key principle of kitesurfing: How to turn whatever conditions you find into a positive and exciting experience of fun, joy, exercise and sport. Everyone perceives the variety of possibilities differently. How do these diverse experiences mould people? Kitesurfers don’t think like tennis players, who try to whack the ball precisely onto the line of a perfectly measured rectangle. A kiter is always actively adapting to the elements. We are coaching according to that same principle in our company: There are a million ways and endless possibilities to live this life. Each individual could be the sad, poor, unhappy and the unhealthy version of themself or the happy, wealthy, mentally and physically strong, healthy version with an immense joy for life. The question is: Who do you really want to be? So, kitesurfers are answering this question of personal growth and choices in life by practicing their sport? Kitesurfers are training per se to make use of all the different possibilities, to be flexible and creative with them – not only on the water, but in life as well. They use the power of nature for their joy and fun instead of trying to fight it. Here’s a synonym from the surf that I love to quote in my seminars. See life as a surf session: I can go head- to-head with the wave, I can try to fight it, fight the other surfers in the line-up, and be negative about everything around me. It’s too crowded, the waves are sh**, it’s too little wind and so forth. Or: I maximize my fun through what’s there. That you can respond to an opportunity one way or another is something kitesurfers experience all the time. It’s no fun to fight the wind and it’s no fun to fight the waves. The key is to use the power to your advantage. It’s the same in life: To open the blinders out more and more. To start noticing all the opportunities that life offers and to have more faith in oneself for all aspects of life. It’s about learning to consider things possible that you haven’t before, in your relationships, partnerships, in your job and the relationship within yourself. To embrace the challenges each new day brings, just like in a surf session. To make the best of everything that comes your way. Those who live this way live happier and experience more, because they are not fighting life. When you fight life, life will send you enemies. Go with the flow instead and you create a happy life for yourself. Use the wind to your advantage instead of fighting it and you’ll have a much more fun session. But not every kite session is awesome – things going wrong as well as not so pleasant experiences are part of the sport too, wouldn’t you agree? Absolutely! The experiences of different people on the same day, even at the same spot can differ hugely. For one person, nothing might work out that day, lines getting tangled, each trick attempt turning into a crash, just a bad session in general although the conditions are actually really good. In the end of the day, that’s what diversity is about as well: That things do not always turn out in your favor and that the individual experience of this very moment is your very personal one. One rider might say it was a totally crappy session, another might call it the session of their life, although both were riding in exactly the same conditions. The diversity of your own experiences also constitutes to your ability to get better with opening up to the flow of Mother Nature. Essentially this will help with having fun in all conditions. This is what distinguishes the masters of this sport. Anyone who has Walter Hommelsheim Born in Göppingen/Germany, Hommels- heim moved to the Canaries at the age of 20, where he lived for 25 years. Working as a surf coach first, he later set up a sportswear label with his own production facility and 15 shops. After a life crisis in 2008, he found his new calling as a coach. Today the 52-year- old Partnership Coach, Mediator and Alternative Practitioner for Psychotherapy runs his own coaching business (herz-kopf.com) with his wife Christina, organizing seminars and creating online programs as well as training and qualifying Inspiration Coaches all over Europe. He has been a passionate surfer all his life. As a kitesurfer, you live a life full of diversity. Each day on the water is different and the people youmeet at different spots all around the world are a diverse bunch of people too. We talked toWalter Hommelsheim, Personal Growth & Development Coach and a passionate surfer himself, about openness, creativity, challenges and the happiness found in diversity. Interview Bernd Zerelles Photos Toby Bromwich, Svetlana Romantsova P E O P L E 54 55 P E O P L E D I V E R S I T Y