Mastering Neutral Bouyancy

PHOTOS: Beautiful rock formed islands, dolphins, weekends on boats, and my hammock on my balcony...all such happy places in my new home of Venezuela.

Scuba diving is my new hobby. The first step in diving is open water certification. During my 5 open water dives I learned about the mechanics of diving and had to prove that I could be generally safe while under the water. I spent most of those dives imagining how precisely dangerous diving is and missed the joy of the experience entirely...almost. Two weeks after my certification, a co-worker asked me to help chaperone a dive boat full of students in exchange for a "free dive"'. That day, I really "saw" my new world-coral, fish of every color, and sea creatures in action.

At the end of the day I signed up for my advanced open water certification course. During the 5 advanced dives, I dove at night with only a flashlight and the moon as my guide. I dove into wrecks and down to 100 feet. I learned to really watch fish and remember things about them-colors, groupings, behavior, habitats. I dove in caves. I learned how to navigate underwater (and no, my instructor was NOT happy when she asked me where the boat was and I merely pointed "up"...guess she was looking for a more specific response). Diving became a passion as opposed to merely an activity after all these discoveries and not once have I ever thought of the "dangers" of it again in a way that prevented me from "seeing" my surroundings as it did in the beginning.

Over my 15 dives so far, the most important thing I learned in diving is the art of mastering neutral bouyancy. This is the process of using your breath to control how far off the bottom you are. If you hold your breath, you float up and away from the bottom and you can't enjoy the details of the sea life from there. If you exhale fully and then breathe slow, controlled breaths, you float effortlessly along the bottom and you become just another fish. You merge right into the sea environment, getting a intimate view of the beauty of it all.

Funny thing....mastering neutral bouyancy is an art even out of the ocean. When I am uptight, I hold my breath, I hold back, and I miss the details of life. I float away from the things that are important, and I lose perspective. Yet, when I forget my fears and anxieties and I exhale; I sink right into the heart of life and lose myself in it's beauty and glory. For me, exhaling is sitting on my balcony listening to the sea, feeling the breeze, smelling the water, and tasting the salt; or rocking in my hammock; or chasing dolphins; or enjoying the hum and sway of the boat navigating around the rocky islands of the Caribbean and so much more....I have discovered passion again in my life. I just have to remember....when things lose focus... exhale, and get lost in the adventure. It's the only way to become an expert at neutral bouyancy-under the sea...and above it.

Time flies!

*A view of the city streets of Quito....it was like a european city.

*The 5th grade class and their chilli-they won best costume!!

*The restaurant on the mountainside overlooking the Caribbean...ate here during my day on the mountain visiting a student.

*The group of four teachers who traveled to Ecuador together during fall break, at the top of the mountain in Quito-4100 meters up.

Time flies...these past few weeks...

I did a night dive as the first step in my advanced SCUBA certification which I will finish this weekend;

My 6th grade HYPERS created a dance/cheer for spirit day cheer-off to a portion of the song BoomBoomPow, complete with homemade T-shirts with "gotta Gecko" logos;

Student council held a school-wide chili cookoff that had chillis of all flavors from around the world and crazy costumes...and I was a judge;

I visited a student who lives on the mountain near our town that has breathtaking views of the Caribbean, to see his family's organic garden project...an hour drive each way on a switchback road;

Cheerleading started, and I am the coach-10 girls ages 8-11 who cheer American chants with a cute Spanish accent and end every cheer with a salsa style swing of the hips and a smile;

Fall break just ended-I spent 6 days in Quito, Ecuador with three other teachers....it is a quaint European type city with booming tourism and interesting Andean culture;

Spanish learning continues...for the past two weeks, I have been on a daily plan of at least 90 minutes of studying Spanish-I will conquer this language!

TIME FLIES in other ways too....

Two decades ago I was in Africa and...

I remember thinking that there was so much more to life and my "career" than what a village in Africa could offer me....now I see that I was a shallow person until that village humbled me.

I remember thinking that I had the corner on the market of "doing good" (from African villages to inner city kids)....now I realize that everyone needs someone to care, the rich kids I know are often more lonely than the village women and inner city kids I knew.

I remember thinking that I was so much smarter and more "with it" than my older teammates...now I lament the fact that I did not take time to soak up their wisdom.

I remember thinking that what I was doing was just temporary and that my "real life" was just around the corner after the next degree/move/job....now I soak in every minute of my current reality, with the goal of making each new day the best day of my life.

ahhh, yes, time flies....I can only hope that my wings are strong enough to stay high above the clouds in order to keep perspective as I continue on this adventure called my life.