Tag: SUP BOARDING

Life After the Spill

Life After the Spill

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A week ago I led a small group experience in Asheville. I showed an audio visual presentation of images from the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill last summer and then we did a meditation visualizing the Earth healing from this and other man-made disasters. Next I showed beautiful images of nature from many places in the world and we did a gratitude meditation. During this time I felt the strong connection humans have with the planet and a flow of gratitude from the Earth as we sat in silence, in stillness cultivating appreciation and love.

Today, as I was paddling my SUP board on Mobile Bay dolphins swam under the board, flocks of pelicans flew overhead, and small mullet splashed in front of me. What a different experience from a year ago.

Last June 13 I was walking the beaches documenting oil washing ashore in Alabama and grieving the unfolding disaster, still spewing unknown amounts of crude into the Gulf of Mexico. As I walked the shores I expected few shore birds and little marine life to survive. I felt as if I was attending a wake each time I visited the beach. And certainly I was for the thousands of birds, marine mammals, sea turtles and fish that died. And for the 11 men who died. It was so devastating to witness this tragedy. Each blog post felt like a eulogy.

But today, there is life on Mobile Bay–swimming under the water, flying over it, and paddling on the surface. Gratitude abounds within me as I acknowledge these signs of recovery.

Yet I know every place on the Gulf Coast is not so fortunate. Some areas are still experiencing heavy oiling in marshes. There are still large tar balls washing ashore and in the local Mobile newspaper, I read an article stating that local officials know there are large oil mats on the bottom just offshore of some major tourist beaches. They are trying to figure out how to remove the oil but are waiting until after ‘tourist season.’ In the meantime, if a hurricane comes ashore, who is to say what the outcome will be.


There is much work to be done on the Gulf Coast to return it to health and there is much to be thankful for. I believe we must remember the spill so we can use it as a reminder that renewal energy is an absolute MUST in our country, in our world. Also, we still have cleanup to do and much oil to remove that remains in the ecosystem. Finally, I believe the spill is an opportunity to recognize the value of such beautiful and amazing resources found along the Gulf Coast and in all of nature. This man-made disaster is a reminder that we must work diligently to protect nature, refrain from exploiting natural resources, and be good planetary stewards.

Today, I am grateful for dolphins, pelicans, fish and all life that slowly recovers from the toxins released last year. My friend Brandon also posted on gratitude today and so I join him in promoting awareness and gratitude for the amazing world in which we live.

Going Beyond Fear

Going Beyond Fear

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When I first started diving 10 years ago, I didn’t have a smile on my face. There was such an overload of equipment, physics, marine life, and dive tables that those first few dives felt very strange and alien. But my passion to commune with the underwater world was strong so I kept diving and somewhere during the first twenty dives I began to really enjoy it. And now, with over 500 dives logged, scuba diving is as natural as walking to me. And I find it brings more peace than anything else I do.

November 28, 2002 I experienced my first cave dive. Here’s part of my log entry: My first cave dive…first time in doubles and ‘cave gear’…had bronchitis…the flow tortured me.” What I didn’t say is that it was scary as heck going into an underwater cave with gear I had never used before and swimming against a current that almost tore off my mask. The next day, cave dive number three log entry: Awesome dive! Exceeded my expectations! Loved it.” While some cave dives have been challenging and two or three downright scary, most of the 85 I have logged have fed my soul instead of tortured it.

The challenge of diving both open water and caves has helped me grow as a person by uprooting fear and creating personal strength and self-trust. It took facing my fear and working through it to reach the other side where I found enjoyment, excitement, and fulfillment. Diving has made me a better human, of that I have no doubt. Plus, it has taken me to amazing places–underwater caves in Mexico with mind-blowing beauty, reefs off of Bonaire filled with sea turtles and eagle rays and to coral heads where tiny marine life made me smile from my heart.

I must have needed another challenge because recently another water sport has been calling to me. Having never tried paddle boarding, I ordered a beautiful board from Three Brothers Boards in Daytona, Florida, after friends suggested I check out their boards. After reading the story of how their board-building business came to be and seeing their line of wood-laminated boards, I knew I had found the right SUP connection (Stand Up Paddleboarding). It arrived last Friday and after the excitement of its arrival abated, I realized I had this great board and didn’t know anything about how to do this sport (other than what I’d watched on YouTube videos).

With my husband along as a potential rescuer if I was a total klutz, I prepared for my maiden voyage last Saturday. I admit it, I stalled a little bit. I was excited for sure, but hesitant to be entertainment for all of the motorboat and jet ski passengers nearby. There are not many paddle boards in Western North Carolina so people tend to stare at this spectacle of a human standing up paddling. Would all the boaters just launch their boats and zoom off for their destinations on Lake James? Please?!?!?

I started out by paddling a bit on my knees, getting a feel for the board and how it responded to movement. It’s very responsive. Incredibly responsive even. Hmmmm…. Finally I laid my paddle across the board like David shows in the video and I stood up. My toes grabbed like monkey-toes but I stood up. I paddled. I even paddled across wake created by jet skis and boats. But first I had the most amazing sensation.

As I stood up and felt the balance point, it was as if I was ten feet tall and positioned on a magnificent, magical carpet. My world expanded and I was hooked. I think I understand what crack addicts mean when they say their first hit was all it took to make them an addict. More, more, more!!! More SUP boarding please!

I’ve had a bit of fear to work through, but after my third paddling session on Lake Julian, I can affirm three things. First, my intuition to make the board purchase and become a paddle boarder was 100% right. Second, when my mind wanders, I lose my center…my balance. Third, anything worth doing involves working through fears that might arise.

Whatever the fear that keeps us chained to a small self, it is worth facing and moving through to reap the rewards of breaking through, going beyond. Going beyond to a bigger expression of what we can become. What lies on the other side of fear? Everything you have ever dreamed possible…and then some! You might even walk on water…or at least feel like you are!