Life: Can We Go Deeper?
This moment in history is such a time of exploration! If I am fortunate enough to enjoy success in the reach of my creative projects, in the spirit of discovery, one of my fondest wishes is to spend some time underwater. Let me explain…
Perhaps the best way to begin is to say something about the picture above of the grouper off the coast of Florida, where they migrate every year. I remember growing up going to SeaWorld and seeing these giant fish. They were so cool! I liked them a lot. When I recently saw a trip advertised for scuba divers to go see the migration of groupers off the coast of Jupiter, Florida, I was immediately taken back to those days as a boy in Florida, marveling over those giant fish.
Those were the days of the TV show “Sea Hunt” and also the days when Jacques Cousteau was in the news, exploring the underwater realm.
From then until now, learning to scuba dive has always been one of my dreams to pursue. I kept thinking about it from time to time, and I thought I might go on a tropical vacation, take a certification course there, and get to see that underwater world.
Depending on how old you are, you may already realize that you have made, and are making, certain fateful decisions that steer you in one direction rather than another. Paths that once were open to you appear to be closing off, maybe even closed off for good.
Fast forward to about 11 years ago when I met my sweetheart, my beloved L, the eccentric, badass, painter lady who has become my best friend and life partner.
One of the early stories she told me about was how she had gone to Cozumel with a man in an earlier part of her life and learned to scuba dive for the trip, taking her final certification there, and having that experience, in waters which by all accounts may be some of the most beautiful waters in the world to dive in.
L is not a mountain climber, or a wilderness explorer, or any of those kinds of things. But she loved scuba diving. And that stuck with me, even if - still! - I couldn’t really figure out how we were ever going to do that together.
Both of us are solo entrepreneurs. Neither of us has ever been able to plan a lengthy vacation together. We are immersed in our lives here in Ashland and need to keep our eyes on the ball if we want to “stay afloat”, let alone take up a somewhat expensive and unnecessary pastime that fits in to the picture like…what?
Why would we do that? Why now?
Now, I have to share a story I imagined.
And by 'imagined,' what I mean is that I sat down day after day and actively started imagining anything that came to mind. And wrote down what came. I was using a Jungian technique called “active imagination”.
I’ll tell you just the first part of the story, because it may become a movie, and it isn't finished yet. It starts in a world where a sorceress flies in the air above a vast lake. She is being surrounded by large, mosquito-like creatures that are predators and want to eat her. Maybe you can relate to this?
She is powerful and magical and could easily zap one or two of these mosquito monsters, but she is being surrounded and looking for an escape.
Call it intuition, fortune, or psychic communication, but out of the depths of the lake rises a large fish that jumps into the air, its mouth wide open, with an unnaturally large mouth. And she sees in an instant that she simply needs to surrender her place in the air, drop into the mouth of this fish, and take what comes.
The fish, swallowing her, descends to the bottom of the lake, burrows into the mud at the bottom, and finds his way through to the garden below the lake where a table is set for the two of them, complete with tea and fruit and cheese and cookies.
Once the Sorceress has exited the fish’s mouth in a puddle, she quickly dries off and joins him at the table where they talk of the things that need to be said in situations like this, when your life is in danger, no matter your powers and you are in the presence of something much more magical and powerful than your own self.
Now why have I told you this story and what does it have to do with life, my life or yours? Or to scuba diving?
I’m not sure I have the answers to those questions. I could say simply the one obvious thing:
That fish - that large, beautiful fish - who is autonomous, lives in the depths, and is capable of swallowing you, capable of taking you to a civilized and enchanted world below the depths of the depths, that fish knows something I want to know. That fish has something I would love to understand.
I will also say that once this story emerged from my mind, I suddenly realized that I had started seeing scuba divers in my life, here, there, and everywhere, some of them with a sense of sorcery about them. I started to realize I have friends in the water. And I began to realize that it is a worthy aim for me to learn how to scuba dive, even to capture footage underwater and compose music to evoke that world.
If you have many questions about this strange quest, you can be sure that I do, too!
How will this happen? Where and when will it begin? What will the world know about it?
Let’s just say that I am looking forward to sharing 100% of the journey and even though it looks like the most unlikely thing in the world that a 70 year old cello player who busks for tips in a park in Southern Oregon could at some point start taking trips to places to dive in the waters there and bring back treasures for the world to share in, I have a feeling it will happen, somehow. At least the willingness is all there.
I have been doing my research, beginning to understand what I need to do, gathering the knowledge of my friends who are divers.
And this step - the one I'm taking right here - is the next step to making it happen.
Do I need around $5000 to really get this off the ground? Probably.
Yes, I could take a course for less, and maybe I will figure out how to do that.
But there is equipment to purchase, and it would be wise to do this with my partner, who would be a willing and practical ally on the journey.
So I am going to keep looking at this as realistically as possible and see what develops.
In terms of life goals for the next ten years that are not specific to making music or making movies, but which will all support health, well-being and full life, I want to list here three:
Buy a car ( get a license to drive and use it to explore places I haven’t been before) - maybe $5000
Learn to scuba dive ( and acquire the ability and tools to capture footage underwater so I can compose music to go along with these experiences) - $5000
Buy a “sleep system” for my bed that controls the temperature for more sound sleep.
To further these goals, I have created this “All Purpose Life Improvement Fund” for anyone who wants to support these endeavors.