Wow! A whole month has passed since I last wrote. Since then The biggest development has been I received my Open Water SCUBA certification. I am now a NAUI certified SCUBA Diver. Whooohoo!! I received my certificate and my sexy little certification card. 

I actually went back this weekend with my friend who was doing the classes with me for her to do her certification. She passed so we are both feeling very accomplished. 

We’re having a great time with it. The experience is amazing! Swimming among the fish and seeing this whole other world under water is an incredible feeling. There’s no way for me to really explain inwords what it’s like. 

There’s a possibility of another dive in 2 weeks in MoBay so I am looking forward to that. In a couple months I will probably try to take on the Advanced Diver course which will cover some underwater photography and deep diving among other things. Once I’ve done that i will be certified to dive to 130ft. 

I’m having sooo much fun.

In that way that life has of bringing things to you when the time is right, I came across this article this week. In it, Jeff of My Super-Charged Life looks at the life lessons he has gained from scuba diving. Since I just this week successfully completed my written test on my way to open water scuba diving certification and am preparing to head to Negril to complete the certification, this was very timely.

Learning to dive was part of my plan for living a full life as I find learning new things to be a critical element for me. But even within scuba these lessons can definitely apply to the wider world.

1. Breathe continuously - That’s key. Just keep breathing no matter and you will most likely get through whatever challenges you face.
2. The buddy system - We need to have partners in life to help us through, to keep us sane, to enjoy the ride with us. Be they friends, family, lovers, surround yourself with people that can help you through their support.
3. Avoid entanglements - Underwater is definitely not where you want to get entangled, but avoiding that in life can help keep your life simple and stress-free.
4. Know your limits - This keeps you safe underwater and is a good idea out of it. Not that you shouldn’t challenge your limits in life but you must know what they are and keep them in mind so as to ensure you make it through.
5. Have fun - Life should be fun, go out and enjoy it!

I need to structure my life so that I never have to drive on the roads between the hours of:

• 7:00 a.m. and 8:30 a.m.
• 12 noon and 3 p.m.
• 5:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.

Ok, I have sat through 3 nights of scuba classroom sessions, learning the theory and principles behind what I have dreamt of doing for a long time. Some nearly 12 hours of information and plenty of reading have led me to this assessment - I need to do this.

Yes, there are dangers and risks involved but just about all of them are within the control of the diver so long as they follow the correct procedure and don’t take silly unnecessary risks. It is not easy and requires a lot of thought and planning to ensure that dive is safe. The equipment that you depend on is heavy and needs detail attention. But all in all, I think this is going to be amazing.

Next week we will finish up the theory and then it’s on to the pool to start practising actual techniques. Then by the end of August we will head for open water for the real thing.

My number one lesson for this week?

JUST KEEP BREATHING

We all have things that we dream of doing - something we have just always wanted to be able to do. For some people when they get the chance to actually do it, the dream turns out to be better than the reality. For others however, the drea only ever scraped the surface - the actual experience is even more powerful, thrilling etc. than expected.

I am standing on the edge of a dream I have had for years. Last night I started the process, and even though it’s only the beginning and I haven’t gotten to the good stuff yet, I am loving it. I am dying to get int the meat of the matter, to get my feet wet The more I hear and talk and learn about it, the more excited I get.

Next weekend I should get the chance to really jump into it and by then I will report on my dream experience.

I came across this great list of money-free ideas, ie. ways to spend time without spending any money. The author of the article has a money-free weekend every couple of weeks with his wife and they are not allowed to spend any money (besides money already spent on utilities). So no renting videos or going out to eat. The list has some fun ideas, some of which I do or have done including starting a 101 in 1001 list (which in itself is a good starting point), baking homemade bread or just learning stuff.

P.S. Speaking of my 101 list, I am slowly making progress. I have only completed about a quearter of my list with several more in progress. I am running out of time in my original 1001 days but no worries, maybe I will start another when that’s up.

My photographic pursuits have long been neglected. My enthusiasm was revived a couple months ago with a gift from my uncle who has been a photographer for decades until he retired from his photo studio some years ago. Turns out he still has tons of old equipment, including a couple medium format cameras that he has no plans of using again. So lucky me. I received among some other stuff two Mamiya camera - an RB67 like the one shown on the left and a C330 TLR like the one shown below.

A quick search on the net brought up the instruction manuals for both. It seems they both still work fine, so I just need to get some 120 film and get to shooting.

Of course, once I shoot this film I will need to be able to develop it. So that provided some additional motivation to get cracking on my home darkroom setup. That project is still underway. The space has been identified but the major obstacles are light-proofing the room adequately and ventilating it all while allowing it to be “dismantled” for normal use during the day. With any luck I will get this setup organized in the next few weeks. Looking forward to being back in the darkroom. Yay!!

I had an interesting conversation today with someone about how to deal with people from your past, more specifically people who have hurt you.

His feeling was that you have no further dealings with them, though you may (once they are forgiven) get to a point where you can say hi and bye. My theory is that so long as you cannot interact normally with that person, your “relationship” with them will always be about the past. They will always be “that” person that did you wrong which is why you cannot speak to them or be around them.

I think that at some point when you are past the hurt and the anger, you have to put that aside and give yourself a chance to re-evaluate whether this person can add value to your life. If they cannot then go ahead and nix any future relationship. If they can however, take your time and slowly let them be a part of your life again.

Every time I think I have moved far enough away from you, I feel a tiny tug, from a string yet to be cut, thin and frayed but holding on, joining me to these random glimpses of the person I once loved.

An inner child
seeking approval
watches to see if you’re looking
only to realize that
the only eyes worth feeling
are those looking from inside