Going Deeper
In June I had the amazing opportunity of getting my Open Water Dive Certification with my wonderful niece, Kayla. Living on an island and loving the water, this was an experience that I was both excited and nervous about, unable to fully grasp what was about to happen. We did our online training, confined dives, and then with our instructor, Laquon (Stuart Cove’s Dive Bahamas), we went out into the open waters.
Diving is a dangerous activity, not least of all because you are submerging yourself into an environment that lacks the most essential of elements for our survival…air. It takes a lot of training, practice, courage, and trust in order to even make it into the ocean.
Stepping out of your comfort zone (or taking a giant stride) doesn’t even begin to describe the experience.
Before our first dive we were prepped on what to expect (flora, fauna, conditions, site specifications, etc.). “Sharks?!” exclaimed Kayla. Laquon replied, “Are you afraid of sharks?” Kayla, “Well I haven’t really spent much time with them.” I giggle at the wit of this response. Laquon, “Well, you’re going to see your first shark today.”
And in we went.
After getting used to all of the equipment and skills we’d practiced in the pool, we began to take in our surroundings. Within minutes, we did see sharks in all of their beautiful, gliding glory. Over the next few dives we saw brilliantly colored fish, sea turtles, anemones, coral, shipwrecks, more sharks and we dove the wall (the tongue of the ocean) where the depth plunged from our comfortable 40 feet to 2,000-7,000 feet….the abyss.
It was amazing and, in all honesty, the time was never enough. I wanted to stay longer and see more. This was a return to home for me.
After our first dive, Kayla shared how special the experience was with the sharks. In particular…the sharks. How beautiful they were, how they simply existed without much notice of us, and how she didn’t understand why they are portrayed as violent killing machines. My shark conservationist heart soared. This is what it meant to go deeper. Kayla had a very shallow (excuse the pun) perception of the ocean and the life within…as do most humans who only experience life from the safety of land. We stepped into the unknown to experience the vast water that covers most of our planet. Our perception was forced to change and our hearts were forced to change as well.
To experience and come into relationship with something foreign allows us to understand our “oneness.” We become aware of our commonalities, our shared needs and desires, our interdependence, and through this awareness a compassionate understanding begins to bloom. That’s how I felt in that ocean. I wanted to gather it and protect it. To whisper that I saw it and its struggles and that I loved it and all the teeming life within. To apologize for our ignorance as a species of our effect on the ocean and it’s inhabitants…the planet itself and its inhabitants. To sit in awe of this new world. To soak in and absorb as much as possible. To thank it for allowing me this view. I have felt this way, too, visiting other countries and cultures but this was different.
Nature has an innocence that permeates. It does not inflict wars due to ego or pride. It longs for balance. Balance of prey and predators, balance of elements, balance of life and death. But we too have a longing for balance. In the end we all have the desire for ourselves and our loved ones to be safe, healthy, happy, and free from suffering, yet we forget that we cannot achieve that without balance. We must look deeper into ourselves, our environment, and the unknown. We must be able to brave that which is different to protect that which is the same.
In addition to diving with my niece, there were deep conversations and tears that came about what she was going through in life, what we were experiencing as a family, what had gone unspoken, and what had become unbalanced. Through this experience we broadened our perspective, we gained courage, we braved the intimidating and we began to tip the scales to become a little more balanced.
May you have the courage to brave the unknown. May you have the courage to see our oneness with the world around you and take strides to protect it. May you, too, begin to tip the scales in favor of balance.
Do the work.
Go deeper.
* If you are passionate about ocean conservation, please look into and support organizations that align with your values. Here are some (of the many) doing great work. *
Ocean Conservancy
O’Seas Conservation Foundation
Sea Legacy
Shark Allies
World Wildlife Fund
