Tag: Nature’s Teachings
Reflections on Whales–Going Home

Reflections on Whales–Going Home

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Thursday–High wind, rough water. Grounded…on the mothership. The whales have not been as numerous this week as in weeks past. Even with fewer whales sighted, those that chose to interact really gave us the best of humpback whale curiosity, engagement and presence.

Each whale-loving human spent the day in various states of waiting….for the weather to improve, for whales to find us again, to have one last opportunity to commune with Angels of the Sea. But it never happened.

Friday–The 90 mile journey from the Silver Bank to Ocean World Marina on the north side of the Dominican Republic began a bit past sunrise…as soon as the captain could safely navigate through the coral heads into open ocean.

I didn’t feel the sadness I usually feel when leaving the Silver Bank. That’s a relief as the two previous years the re-entry from whale bliss to everyday life has been challenging. For some reason, it feels okay to be headed inland. Perhaps I finally understand the connection never goes away…it’s always inside, always present, no matter where I find myself.

Roadside market…closed for the afternoon.

Saturday—Written at the airport:

The 90 minute drive from Puerto Plata to Santiago winds through mountains. I am struck with the utter poverty that SO many people live in. All along the highway are concrete shelters…I can’t call them homes. But they are to those who live there. Many have steel bars on the windows and doors. That struck me as odd.

We passed a girl, probably about ten years in age, standing beside the road dressed up in very modern clothes performing to an imaginary audience. Waiting for someone to discover her genius, her beauty….her talent. Her stage presence reminded me of American Idol.

So many cultures attempt to copy the USA–The American Dream.

But there is a dark side I wish I could share with them. Our beloved country is regressing daily. Greed is now exposed as the driving force behind all policy and governing. So much for freedom…of religion, of the Press, of assembly. The very values that made our country such a unique and beautifully evolving democratic Republic are hourly being tossed in the toilet.

Sweet friends who think the USA is setting the example for prosperity and success….we are currently destroying laws that protected our precious resources of water, clean air…desecrating sacred lands and places. We now mirror back to the world the absolute truth of what happens when greed and the love of money dictate policy and politics.

Dear friends from the many beautiful and wonderful countries of this Ocean Planet, please do not long to be like us for we are uprooting a deep, darkness that threatens everything our ancestors worked so diligently to create.

Work in your homes, your native lands, to deepen your values and desire for a better life by cultivating fairness and compassion in your hearts and minds. Care for all life. Strive to acknowledge and build on the beauty in your backyard…in your hearts and minds…in your communities. And please, every morning, say a little prayer for us. I’ll do the same for you.

~~~

As I was writing at the airport the guy sitting behind me at the gate started playing Imagine by John Lennon on his phone. Tears streamed down my face as I turned and thanked him. He was embarrassed because he didn’t intend to play it out loud…sometimes Great Spirit, the Universe, God….whatever you call It…orchestrates little reminders.

Lyrics to Imagine by John Lennon

Imagine there’s no heaven
It’s easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today
Imagine there’s no countries
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace
You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will be as one
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world
You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will live as one

The trip was a good one as evidenced by the salt stains on my cap. If you are interested in whales I invite you to visit the Center for Coastal Studies website. Read about a whale I photographed that is recovering from propeller wounds in the Epilogue of this series….in the next post. Piano is followed by the scientists there. And….if you want cool whale merch, check out their site. They do amazing work!!!

 

 

 
Reflecting on Whales–Part II

Reflecting on Whales–Part II

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Feb 20

Yoga under stars and half moon. Calm seas. Message received during yoga: Navigate by the stars….and even when I can’t see them doesn’t mean they are not there. 

Today’s whale encounters were centered around a male and female whale in their dreaming/resting state. I was able to drop into meditation with the female and felt my mind expand. I saw the Universe through her mind and floated, suspended in awe.

When I looked into her eye I felt a strong connection to her mind, like I could see constellations of the sky. It was as if the Universe was contained within it. Last year I came away from my humpback whale encounters suspecting they spend their time dreaming and connecting with the Universe while in the warm, tropical waters of the Dominican Republic rather than simply sleeping. This experience strengthened that idea. I could feel her connection with the Cosmic Mind, Universal Consciousness.

As I ‘saw’ this in the whale, I asked to be shown directly and opened my mind to her mind. It’s challenging to explain my experience in words so I’ll summarize with this: When I felt completely filled with Universal Consciousness, there was a huge rush of emotional energy that moved throughout my body and out through the top of my head. We had been still and quiet together until I felt the rush of energy explode like a fountain from my head…in that exact moment she twitched, gave a final look at me and then ascended to breathe. It felt as if she ‘said,’ Okay, you got it!

Although I am concerned about the biology of whales and the science behind their survival, the call to which I respond is a spiritual one. The energy with which they live and move and have their being in the sea is profound and connects me to that aspect of my own being. I believe they are planetary dreamers and their dreaming is absolutely a necessary part of the web of energy that connects all life on the planet.

Unlike science–which begins with a hypothesis and is followed by asking questions, gathering and examining evidence and seeing if the information can be combined to a logical answer–a spiritual connection is very subjective with little proof. That doesn’t bother me, though. For me it’s very real and profound…life-changing. Experiences like this help me expand my mind, think about life differently and hopefully apply that to all situations in my life.

I stopped trying to label mystical connections with animals and places long ago. I am simply grateful for these moments of expansion that lead to greater understanding…of species other than myself and of my soul’s journey with them.

 

 
Reflecting on Whales–Part I

Reflecting on Whales–Part I

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February 19th

The tip of the orange orb peeked from behind the horizon. Rapidly it climbed in the east, transforming the light blue sky to deep azure striped with brilliant tangerine clouds stretching overhead. I closed my eyes to breathe in the day and when I opened them all color had vanished from the misty, wispy cloud-beings. Their white skeletons hung colorless, no longer blushing with radiance. What an awakening they had as their tails painted the heavens.

Now the whales breathe their white hot breath in the distance. They weave magic in this place that lifts all heaviness. Their freedom gives me freedom and so I awaken to the magnificent life–the magnificent, abundant life.

Earlier, as I watched the sun rise…no, before that…after yoga under the half moon and stars when I sat on the top deck of the steadily rocking boat, I struggled between being in-the-moment–absorbent, sponge-like, of the indigo water, blue sky and orange clouds–and diving into my writer’s mind that wanted to begin weaving words.

With determination I remained open, receptive and gifted myself the present…the Experience–wind on my face, sea spray baptizing me with holy water. “Wait,” I said aloud. “Be here. Feel it. You will remember.”

So I surrendered to the day, to the beauty and longing of my soul to be free of thoughts and words and plans.

Now I glance up from the writing and a whale blows in the distance. I am drawn deeper, deeper into their weaving, their magic as I leave everything else behind.

~~~~~

I leaned my ear against the side of the boat. Arias and riffs of deep, booming base and high whistles vibrated through the hull and created an opening in my heart. Tears trickled down my tilted face. We actually heard the whale song over the purr of the engine. We stopped, turned off the outboard motor and listened. Amazing! Never saw the singer but he serenaded us through the watery depths as we floated motionless in the Atlantic Ocean.

Also had a nice visit with a mother humpback and her baby in the water. It was a delicious day which I consumed with gratitude. 

Juvenile humpback showing off that beautiful fluke!
Blue Heaven

Blue Heaven

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In Three Sisters Spring, a highly-visited spring in central Florida by manatees and people watching manatees, there are areas set aside as sanctuaries for resting manatees. Humans are not allowed to follow them past the barriers and the manatees know this. They head to these quiet places to rest and seek respite from the colder river.

I totally understand their desire to hide from massive amounts of people in this ‘warm’ water haven. In fact, I have often wanted to request a sanctuary for humans that simply want to float in stillness and quiet rather than be among those kicking, splashing, talking, yelling or crowding manatees….where is my sanctuary?

Earlier this week I found it. Two days in a row I had the spring to myself. Well….there were fish and a cormorant and maybe a sleeping manatee but there were no other humans. I floated face down watching the spring bubble up 15 feet below me and dropped into a deep stillness that comes when I’m in water, in my happy place.

There was no splashing, no loud voices…it was an amazing experience of beauty and peace.

Ripples of light reflecting off the sand created a wave of rainbows in constant motion. Bliss…delight…wonder…awe.

Suspended weightlessly, the spring and I were one.  There was nothing except those moments of harmony. What a time of renewal, of restoration.

One afternoon there was a large, sleeping manatee. I swam far away and past it to the big spring for my meditation. The manatee and I held space for each other to rest and relax with no expectations or demands. All encounters are not face-to-face. Perhaps some of the most profound are not even in close physical proximity.

I felt so alive and wonderful after spending so much time floating, drifting in stillness.

If you know me, you know I love manatees and whales and sea lions, whale sharks, dolphins….but what I love almost more than an encounter with them is giving them their space and honoring their need for rest and stillness. Cultivating respect for others…accepting their choices to engage or withdraw…and doing the same for myself leads to increased inner harmony and balance.

Wouldn’t it be great if we all could do that for each other and all species? That would perhaps be heaven. For me, it was Blue Heaven.