OCEAN Archives - Page 10 of 38 -

Stars and Sea

By Simone Lipscomb | July 29, 2016

The Big Dipper hangs at the northern horizon as I push up from the white sand. The stethoscope is still in my ears after it transmitted progress of the baby sea turtles hatching, scratching and making their way up…up…up from the darkness to the starlight.

With no moon to dim them, the stars are spectacular and are like jewels in the velvet sky. They seem to twinkle into infinity as the Milky Way winds its way through Scorpio and other constellations hanging gracefully over the Gulf of Mexico.

It is a perfect night on the beach. Music of the waves gently lapping against the shore is the background as the babies work diligently underground, in that dark Unknown. With instinct beyond human understanding, they tear and rip the rubbery egg shells and begin to crawl up…up…up to an unknown Source of Life.

Even when a nest hatched early and unattended and most babies crawled toward porch lights or were dispatched by crabs and coyotes and we hunted with visitors and ran and followed tracks with great sadness….there is still a sense of quiet peace. Nature isn’t always cuddly.

I now sit and listen with the stethoscope to the newly born working at the neatly tarped and trenched nest, ready for their imminent arrival, protected from lights that would surely draw them astray. Waves roll onto the shore. A shooting star flashes overhead. The warm breeze caresses my face. I am alone but only isolated from other humans. Everything here pushes in and tells me it’s okay.

The blood of dead hatchlings, killed by ghost crabs, is still on my hands…is on the hands of all humans as we alter and change wild habitat to claim it for ourselves.

Message in a Bottle…#3

By Simone Lipscomb | July 18, 2016

It washed up during the sea turtle patrol walk not far from where I turned around. Usually I walk back on the road but the sand was firm so walking wasn’t difficult and it was a glorious sunrise with wild cloud formations over the Gulf and beach,

The bottle with the note in it was sitting at the edge of the surf. In the five seasons I’ve volunteered with our sea turtle team, I’ve found three messages in a bottle. Oddly enough, all during mid-July.

The first was after a wedding or commitment ceremony. It contained a prayer, images of the couple’s dreams and their vows. Their message, cast out into the Great Unknown, brought me a message of love and hope. I sent their hopes onward, out into the Universe, and kept the bottle in my office next to a dream board my daughter and son-in-law made.

The second bottle contained a very moving note about a young man that died in a distillery explosion in Kentucky. His mother’s friend sent her message out into the Great Mystery and asked the finder to let Kyle’s mom know it was found. I wrote a blog about it, let the damp note dry and sent it all to Rhonda, Kyle’s mom. I hope her grief was eased by knowing Kyle’s story lived on, his life touched others he had never met.

This last bottle had blue liquid in the bottom. Somebody forgot to use waterproof ink. They didn’t seal the cork. They also used a form letter…imagine sending a form letter out into the Universe. A fill-in-the-blank message in a bottle….with water-based ink. The paper was saturated and was falling apart when it was removed from the bottle.

I wondered….how often do people use a fill-in-the-blank wish list for their lives? Are we willing to live life by default or can we have the courage to work for our dreams? Are we sloppy in our life dreams? Are they easily erased by the challenges that come our way? Can we have the audacity to use permanent ink and create imaginative requests of our lives and be so full of belief that Something Out There will find it and respond that we seal the cork well so when it’s opened, the message is received with clarity.

It was a fun thing for the kids to do…fill out the form letter, toss it in the water and imagine. No big deal. But it reminded me to live with intention and realize that everything I do affects not only my life but the lives of others around me. Whoever opens up a blog post and reads it or sees one of my images of dolphins or whales or ocean life…they are, in some way, affected. When I smile at the grocery clerk or hold the door for a stranger….or snuggle with my 11 month old puppy…or rub my kitty friend’s ears…every action matters.

It’s easy to live in a vacuum and forget that we do make a difference. Every little thing we do….it matters.

What would your message in a bottle say? Would you use permanent ink? How would you prepare to send it out into the Great Mystery?

Waiting for Light

By Simone Lipscomb | July 17, 2016

I was seated on my mat waiting for class to begin. Behind me I heard a voice whisper, “I love you, Simone.” That’s when I began to come out from under a cloud. I turned around and gave Caitlyn a quick hug. “Thank you,” I whispered back. Finally, breath returned as I inhaled deeply and refocused on the yoga instructor.

The past few weeks have been heavy with hate. From Orlando to Minnesota, Louisiana, Texas, Iraq, France….the killing, bombing, acts of hate built up a dark cloud that felt smothering. It didn’t help that I was bullied and learned what it felt like for hate and meanness to be directed at me during this time. I came away from the situation with more compassion and understanding for those who are hated…for any reason but perhaps something like their skin color, who they love, their religion, their gender…education level….size of bank account….species… every day I went out on my back porch and sat in the hammock swing under the shade of a grandmother oak tree and stared into a lush courtyard. How can hate be so rampant? What are we doing to ourselves, each other…the planet?

Times like these are when my choice to be single really weighs heavy on me. This is when I want a man’s strong arms to embrace me and tell me it will be okay or if it’s not, at least I have someone to share the pain and grief of a world gone psycho. When the world is imploding on itself is when I most want companionship…not to fix the insanity of the world but to help me keep from slipping into the dark hole with so many others.

Toward the end of the week I was struggling. My self-talk was getting progressively more negative and I was quickly slipping into old behaviors of self-doubt and admittedly…self-hate. I mean, everyone else is doing it….

The cloud began to lift on the way to yoga class. A rainbow appeared in the sky. Rainbows have been very prominent in my life over the past few years, especially when a message is trying to come through. Then in class my friend reminded me there is love in the world amid hate. Then this morning’s sea turtle beach patrol brought more peace.

The darling dog boy awakened me at 3.15am. My alarm was set for 4.30 so going back to sleep wasn’t an option. I quickly jotted down a couple of dreams, fed the critters and then headed to the beach. It was far too early to begin walking the patrol section but the need to connect with the Gulf was great.

In yesterday’s meditation I saw, in my mind’s eye, a man holding my hands and then placing them on the white sand of the beach and then standing beside me as I knelt in surrender. When I arrived over 45 minutes before sunrise the beach was far too dark to see turtle tracks or nests I had to check. So I stood and then knelt and placed my hands on the sand and surrendered.

Waiting for light…what a perfectly timed teaching to receive. How agonizing it is to wait for change….of self, others, the world…in those dark moments before the light returns fear can grasp the strongest mind and heart.

The street light in the distance was brilliant as I stood in near complete darkness at the water’s edge. One light can illuminate such a large area. And the sun…well, that can illuminate massive areas of our Ocean planet. Like the beach this morning….every small bit of light increased my range of sight. Yesterday’s mediation reminded me to focus on light and love every time doubts, fears and grief surfaced.

As the light grew, moment-by-moment, peace returned to my mind and heart. As I began walking, a chant arose. Peace to you, brothers and sisters, peace to you. Love to you, brothers and sisters, love to you. Joy to you, brothers and sisters, joy to you. To every gull, tern, ghost crab, great blue heron, dolphin, shark, human…Peace to you.

At one point I looked out over the Gulf and saw a very high blow from a cetacean…too big for a dolphin. Who then? I glanced behind me and there was a cloud forming a big okay symbol, like a hand. That brought a smile. And then the large rainbow as I neared home brought even more peace.

During this time where hate is being exposed, where the insanity of darkness seems to fuel hate, it’s important to let nature heal our hearts and minds. And it’s a time to join together in harmony and love and build upon peace by living it with those ready and willing to be in that space with us.

Another World

By Simone Lipscomb | June 24, 2016

When I attempt to write about the experience of being surrounded by thirty-three dolphins, it feels as if it’s contained in a bubble of reality outside mainstream reality. It’s the same way when I visit humpback whales in their realm. A big part of me enters into a world, a dreamtime, of magic and wonder that feels more real than the materialistic shadow world in which most people live.

Each time I return from a journey like this it’s more difficult to force myself to fit back into a reality I want little part of….mainstream news, reality shows, materialistic focus, greed, ego, selfishness, more-more-more mentality. Perhaps the reason it’s difficult is that I simply don’t want to return to that world.

Yet I function in the ‘Matrix’ and hopefully bring some of the reality of joy and Oneness into it, rather than completely cut myself off from it. It’s challenging.

It is my sincere intention to unleash the wild, nearly unimaginable beauty of Oneness into this heavy, dark time in which we find ourselves. Profound beauty is available, not just in dolphin pods or humpback whale gatherings, in everyday reality; however, something has to inspire us to change and move toward a lighter reality.

We can move beyond consumer mentality as we begin to realize the hell it is.When we dare taste the sweetness that is possible when our focus changes from more-more-more to Oneness, a new Earth can be birthed.

Blissed Out

By Simone Lipscomb | June 24, 2016

I felt a nudge against my arm as I slowly swam with a group of spotted dolphins. I glanced to my right to see which one of my buddies was getting my attention. It was a buddy alright but not a human friend. It was large, female spotted dolphin buddy.

I was in a large group of dolphins and was already quite over-the-top in feeling joy and was laughing profusely as thirty-three spotted dolphins surrounded us. I was right in the middle of the pod and was photographing, laughing and in such a state of bliss I wasn’t sure it was even real.

The nudge on my arm reminded me…IT IS REAL!

There’s no way I can write about this day’s amazing experiences in a short blog entry so I will take copious notes in preparation for it becoming a chapter in my new book, Cosmic Whale: Mystical Stories from the Sea.

As I processed images from the day the laughter returned and so did tears of joy that opened me to realms I only dreamed existed. I have such profound gratitude for everything and everyone who helps me on my path. These special beings have given me a gift that will continue to expand in my heart and mind long after I have left Bimini.

At one point only three of us floated among the pod of mothers, calves, adolescents and other females. Susan, Sarah and I were accepted as part of the gathering of females and their calves and teens. It was one of the most beautiful experiences of my life. We were trusted with precious babies as the females slowly swam around us and circled us in a most amazing dance of connection, of Oneness.

Blessings to these amazing sisters and brothers. May they be protected, happy and have bountiful lives.