Friday Tunes with Wafaa

 This week's playlist comes to you from a friend of ours in the infamous town of  Taghazout in Morocco. Wafaa is a powerhouse of a woman. A skater, a surfer, a lover of sunshine and good times with passion just oozing from the very centre of her being, we are so stoked to have had the chance to get to know this fine young lady. 

Growing up on the Atlantic coast of Morocco, it was just natural for Wafaa to take to the sea, learning to surf and immersing her self in the surf and skate counter culture. For a young woman growing up in this part of the world, it was often frowned upon for her to 'be one of the boys', but this didn't hold her back. If anything this gave her the determination to show the world just how mighty fine Wafaa really is! Honouring her feminine and culture Wafaa graced the skate and surf scene in this small fishing village with style, finesse and the willingness to create a change, and by-golly has she ever!  

Wafaa's curated a dreamy little play list for us. It is perfect to tune into when you are on the hunt for waves this weekend. Turn it up, wind the windows down and feel that cool breeze in your locks and the freedom in the air.  

Describe to us your perfect day

Not so long ago, I had the sickest day. Woke up had a banging toast with avocado, goat cheese tomato and olive oil, then head over to the skatepark found my friends already shredding we had the best time skating, eating shit and laughing. Went back home had a shower and went to the beach, had a siesta while listening to my favourite tunes, my friend joined we talked shit and laughed then had the best surf, didn’t catch many waves but just had the best time in the water...although we didn’t stay long because there were loads of jellyfish in the water which made the session even better trying to dodge not getting stung by those little bastards.  Also few weeks before this I had one of the chillest most loveliest afternoon in the sand dunes waiting to see the sunset….Anyway a simple day doing what I love with my loved ones will always be my perfect day. 

What is a social or environmental issue that hits close to home for you?

The social issue that hit close to my home is definitely patriarchy, we live in male dominated society and most of the time females need to try harder than men to be heard. There are a few things I can mention to make my point but I will stick with one of my own experiences of being one of the few girls who skates in my country.  For example starting skateboarding it was a cultural shock for some, it was just not appropriate for them to see a girl doing boy stuff!!  People made sure to tell me in each occasion they could to be careful not to fall!! Like girls are dolls and they break when they fall. Anyways I fell  and I didn't break and it felt good.

An environmental issue that hits close to home is pollution, we have a long way to go to make things right for the sake of mother earth and for the generations coming… trying to take small steps and fight small battles everyday is my contribution for now. I’m so inspired by people who fight for this on a daily basis to bring awareness and find solutions… those people are the real MVP.

How do you measure success? 

Success for me is happiness to be content and grateful. Collect as many moments and meet as many people as I can.  I want to look back years from now and feel that I have achieved the best life I can, surrounded by family and friends I want to look back to all the places I have been and all the people I meet a long the way. Look at myself at the mirror and count all the wrinkles around my eyes and know that it all came from laughter. 

If you could be an animal, what animal would you be?

Butterfly with middle fingers up.

for me a metaphor meaning of butterfly is transformation, change, potential and joy and an ability to experience the wonder of life by flapping their wings flying from place to place looking for beauty and chasing sun rays. I love the idea of the possibility of being reborn and transform. Butterflies only live for a few weeks or months but they don't give a damn they live their life to the fullest enjoying the here and the now.

Your staple healthy meal? 

Hmm i catch myself always craving a toast/avo/tomato/goat cheese/olive oil and maybe scrambled eggs on the side. And a fresh OJ won't hurt too.

Any irrational fears or phobias? 

I have this fear of something bad happening to my closest people, overthinking about their safety… weird I don’t know where this is coming from !! 

What do you find yourself day dreaming about?

To be completely honest in the beginning of this year I tried to stop dreaming and just doing… the worst decision I have made haha. Lately I catch myself dreaming of creating new things connecting with people so I decided to work on a personal project not chasing the material side of it but just a skateboard brand where my friends and like minded folks will connect to it and to have a platform for local artists to create and to be heard while brining awareness to some issues in our society.

How do you practice self love?

Love is all around us we just have to look, I always try to honour my feelings, find what's good for my soul and do it it can be physically, maybe going for a skate with my homies or socially having a healing chit chat with a good friend,  emotionally I try to be grateful as much as I can even for the smallest and silliest things… for example: I’m so grateful for my good damn coffee this morning that my flat mate made for me. 

What are some of your daily/weekly rituals?

I’m so bad following routines or rituals, I just do whatever I feel like doing and whatever I think is serving well in that moment.

What is Wafaa’s Life motto?

Silly but : feel good then you will do good and you will look good.