I was brought into this world on November 20th, 1964 in the town of Kailua on the NE side of the island of Oahu, Hawaii. When I was 8 and inbetween 2nd and 3rd grade, my family moved from up in the hills on the south side of the island looking down on the entirety of Honolulu and Pearl Harbor to the south. At 3 yrs old my brother Brett 4, and I, along with other slightly older kids in the immediate neighborhood, would get to the endless woods behind the single layer of houses along our mountain street .. and be gone all day .. there were no psychos or aliens or dangerous animals waiting to abduct or attack us. We would be barefoot with only shorts and no food or water .. we weren't old enough to think of these things.

When we moved, it was back to Kailua and a mile from the beach of sand with a barrier reef under a mile out to keep all large swell at 'bay' in Kailua Bay. Onshore winds would blow in bazillions of Portuguese Man-o-War jelly fish that would deliver a painful sting especially for a youngster but not life threatening. I was stung hundreds of times over the years. The mountains were no longer at my doorstep but the ocean and all it had to offer was nearby. This .. one single factor.. was to pave my lives direction for many years. Brett and I were traversing the residential mile to the shore frequently and as each year passed, it was more and more frequently .. to feed my love for the waves .. surf .. he'e nalu. Within a few years it was the single priority in my world and why I would dodge any chore or responsibility to be in the water riding a wave, at the expense of getting grounded .. I was grounded alot all the way to the end of high school. But before I entered high school I had graduated to the north shore of Oahu .. proving grounds for any upcoming surfer, bodyboarder, kneeboarder or pro surfer. I was a kneeboarder. We are a dying breed .. there are 5000 surfers for every kneeboarder. It was my destiny.

I left the island in 1989 in the first part of January to live in Silicon Valley .. San Jose .. or San Hose-me as I came to derogatorily call it due to my distaste for all things South Bay(San Francisco). I had a little less than 2 years of IRR - Inactive Ready Reserve - with the Nat'l Guard, my HQ Company being at Ft. Ruger, Diamond Head, Honolulu. Leading up to enlisting in 1983, I was in Indian Guides, Cub Scouts, Weeblos and Boy Scouts. Fast forward to 1992, I found residence in Santa Cruz and work with a framing contractor. Between surf n work, the only spare time I had was spent on my mtn bike .. my second addiction, as the area was rich with good riding and enthusiasts. I was ecstatic to be out of Silicon Valley and all its' concrete !! These 3 years would involve events that would forever alter the course of my life. From marriage, the births of my son and daughter, divorce and obligations to the military, I was left with the desire to run from my own shadow, not commit to anything other than surf and mtn biking and smoking pakalolo and drinking beer and goofing off AMAP - as much as possible. I had alot that I was absolutely desperate to forget and never, ever remember. Even now, 3 decades later .. I just don't have any desire to write about any of it in detail .. still.

In the decade to follow, I lost myself in solo surfing hard-to-get-to spooky, shark infested spots north of Santa Cruz and phenomenal mtn biking, most of it being homeless but employed and living outa my factory 1-ton toyota with lumber racks, camping under a 20' by 25' tarp, half for my truck n half or my comfy sleep roll n cooking on an open fire with a nearby source of water for antarctic bathing and drinking water. Nomad gypsy-ism .. suited me just fine. Even waking in the middle of the night with my "spidey senses" going absolutely bonkers for no apparent reason .. that I could detect anyway .. only to find mountain lion tracks in the sand 25 feet away, the next morning .. I was living .. and I was just fine with it.

One typical socked-in foggy August morning in 2006, I rose super early to catch a south swell at a spot 20+ miles to the north, the old-timer local surfers called "great white HWY 101" .. and don't even paddle out there. As far as I was concerned, it was perfect crowd control. Greyhound Rock. It offered up very shallow breaking, hollow tubes. I ended up getting caught by out-going backwash colliding with the wave I had caught, throwing me in the air, flailing uncontrollably and pile-driving head first into the rock bottom, splitting 8 inches of my scalp open and compressing and rearranging much of my thoracic and cervical vertebrae. Somehow .. somehow, I wasn't knocked unconscious .. go figure !! My wetsuit has a built-in hood which was a real plus. I knew my neck and head were injured .. again .. I just didn't know to what extent. The water around my head had a slight red tint to it so I traversed the 150 yards to shore gingerly and not so gingerly made my way up the 130 foot high, 65 degree slope to my car in the parking lot. Some more stitches .. yay ..

I was out-of-commission. I soon after moved out of the room I was renting and lived in my KIA RIO .. so spacious, yes. No work .. no money .. no pay rent. In November, I left California forever and headed north to Hood River, Oregon, right across the mighty Columbia River from the town of White Salmon, Washington, where my folks had retired after living in Hawaii for half a century. I arrived on my birthday, the 20th. I quickly fell in love with the endless miles of Doug Fir covered valleys and peaks, all criss-crossed with mtn bike, dirt bike, ATV, dirt-logging-forest service roads and trails. The ocean was not near but I adapted to my new home and surroundings well, with the help of my mtn bike. Ma n Da helped me get back on my feet as I forayed into the fray with frequency.

Not being religious at all, but instead having A RELATIONSHIP with my creator and HIS SON, I was introduced to Life Skills International through the church I attended, Covenant Christian Hood River. This is a class meeting once a week for two or three hours depending on being in Phase I or II. GOD, in HIS infinite wisdom, saw to it that my life be on a collision course with the material in this class, Once again, the course of my life is altered. When initially taking this class around 2010, I was as unselfaware as a human can possibly be. Clueless, oblivious, head in the clouds .. however one wishes to term it. Not any more. After 5 years of the curriculum in a span of 7 years, I am now the real me.

And it is with the real me that I embark on my Olympus Mons Expedition to Self Awareness .. all the while being roped in - to Daniel and Angelina Comp .. my expedition leaders .. incredible DIE-HARD long-time entrepreneurs and internet marketing gurus .. but most importantly, my good friends and fellow Life Skills cohorts. Founders of Intelligent Netware - parent company for Angelinas 'Wellness By Choice" for all fascets of a healthy life and Daniels "Leaving Scotomaville" for Veteran and others to becoming self aware.

Garth Hardin