or: What am I doing next?
I enjoy corporate work and I enjoy diving. Ideally I would like to combine both.
I think this is possible.
These two things don’t need to be mutually exclusive with one reserved as work and the other as fun and something I can only do on holidays or weekends (if I was somewhere with warmer water).
I can be corporate in a wetsuit.
I just need to work out how.
It will also save on the cost of high heels and dry cleaning.
Someone putting their head underwater for the first time and realizing they can breathe is a transformative experience. For them to swim, see fish, corals and whatever else is at that particular dive site and go back to the boat when they have never done this kind of thing before – this is the perfect time to realise they can do absolutely anything they put their minds to. Considering earlier that day in the pool, many go through a phase of thinking they can’t do it. They are afraid of drowning (this is a very rational fear especially for those that can’t swim) but with some training, diving gear, patience and support, they have done it. Doesn’t that prove that anything is possible?
They have just breathed underwater.
Wow…
To be part of that experience is amazing. Especially the ones that have found it difficult in the pool or have said they are going to give up. The joy on their faces when they reach the surface. Their exclamations as they tell others on the boat about what they have seen and how they felt makes me feel so happy for them. They haven’t missed out on something I am fortunate enough to be able to do more regularly than most. To experience weightlessness and to see fish, clams, corals, eels (and turtles if they are really, really lucky) and whatever else in their natural habitat is something that I enjoy and to be able to help others see this too and perhaps even inspire them to make more environmentally conscious decisions as a result is fantastic.
What’s not to love about this?
Soon I will be able to certify others to do more than the Discover Scuba Dive and this is when more magic will happen. It really is magic!
Clearly I’m expecting to pass my exams though I do need to study more of the physics part shortly….
Anyway, back to the magic… To be able to teach someone that wants to learn to dive is the start of helping someone to become a safe, lifelong diver.
Now that’s really cool!
To help them perfect their buoyancy so they can be exactly where they want to be in the water, to slow their breathing so they can stay longer, to teach about the fish and their habitat and to make sure they know how to be safe while doing all of this (and a few other things too) is quite exciting to me.
A lifelong diver enjoys not only the weightlessness, and the underwater world in general, most also enjoy the peacefulness of it. As a diver improves, diving itself is easier and so the mind is truly free (I’m assuming no strong currents etc, though some do enjoy this). It is like meditation. Sure, we all stay focused on our air consumption, where we are sitting in the water, where our dive buddy is and in my case, watching the fish, but the peace of it all and how it is so different to life on land is what keeps many doing this.
Then there are the different dive sites, environments in general and actual diving styles that can all be experimented with depending on what aspect of diving you enjoy. Some like photography, some like diving in cold water, some like diving at night, some like to go into wrecks and others like even more technical things. I’ll even be able to teach some of these specialities (not the dry suit one since I can’t see myself diving in cold water except for my bucket list trip to Iceland for one dive) once I finish as I’m staying on to do the Master Scuba Trainer Course.
I am a tropical water diver who still needs to wear at least a 3mm long wetsuit in 28 degree Celsius water. I like to think that my body is ultra efficient at sharing its heat with the ocean. It’s meant to happen 20x faster in water than air but my body is an overachiever and I think it’s happening at about 40x faster.
I have studied some of the physics materials!
Now a lifelong diver has a place to go where they can escape the hustle and bustle of everyday life. There is no talking. It creates a fresh slate for when back on land and perspective has even shifted after one dive. Most of us are more chilled out and relaxed or buzzing after a dive. This makes most problems and hassles seem smaller than what they were before diving.
I think diving can be combined with life / career coaching, management development, learning and development, team building and process improvement at the least. I’m sure it can be combined with quite a few other things that I can already do too that would be a good blend of my corporate and diving life and some travel.
This can be done anywhere.
I am on the verge of an awesome idea that is niggling at the edges of my brain waiting to takeover. I just need to be patient and let circumstances, reading and listening to others create the perfect melting pot for the idea to fully form.
It’s an exciting time!
* Thanks to LCD Soundsystem for the title to this post.