A Philosophy of Radical Aliveness

A Philosophy of Radical Aliveness

LIVE LARGE & LONG!


"Yesterday is already a dream, and tomorrow is only a vision; but today well lived, makes every yesterday a dream of happiness and every tomorrow a vision of hope."

John Kerestes


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Sunday, December 5, 2010

November 2010: Beqa Lagoon, Fiji

I took Judy to Fiji for her birthday. It was a dive trip with Denver Divers. She had never even been snorkeling before this trip. While in Oakland she pursued scuba classes to prepare for open water certification. They dressed her up in a 7 mil. suit that was too small, and a thick hood. She had a panic attack and wasn't sure she could finish the course. She was able to complete the written and pool prep, but had to take it all a second time through our dive school at Denver Divers. Then upon arrival in Fiji, she had a sinus infection, and couldn't dive until the last two days. The day prior to her first dive I took her out for a snorkel, her first ever. The reaction was, "Wow! Its like an aquarium down there!" She thought you have to look for the fish, but as soon as she put her mask under the water, there they were in all their profusion of color. On the next to the last dive of the trip Judy was certified!

This was my sixteenth scuba trip, and brought my total number of dives to 180. I did twelve on this trip. One of the highlights was the two shark dives. On the right is a link to a YouTube video of one of those dives. On the second dive I was hanging out at the 15' safety stop at the end of the dive, and our divemaster, Missy, motioned that he wanted my camera. When I gave it to him he shot off out of sight. When he returned he had three shots of a large tiger shark, who was a later-comer to the chum we had set out to bring the sharks to our sight. The two shark dives reminds me of a quote (which is in my newly published book) from George Carlin: "Life is not measured in the number of breaths you take, but the moments that take your breath away."

Being the Pacific, we saw lots of things I hadn't previously seen: blue ribbon eels, clown fish, and lion fish. I have been told lion fish now have been introduced to the Caribbean, but its been so long since I've been diving there that it was the first time I've seen them outside an aquarium. They are highly poisonous, and in the Atlantic waters, have no natural enemies. 

Another highlight of the trip was a visit to a local village where the school children sang and danced for us. They were very friendly, and engaging. Here is a link to a YouTube video I shot with my iPhone: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xobegg0x01E.
That's me!