I was last in the ocean 205 days ago. Each day spent away from the water has disconnected me from my blue mind. Two years ago, I wrote about Finding Your Blue Mind. I talked about the simple ways that I could find my blue mind through what I called blue mind moments as I made my way to the ocean. Over the past couple of weeks, something seemed missing. Even with the advent of daylight savings time and more sunlight throughout the day and the warmer weather, I believe I have discovered the missing piece – My Blue Mind.
The Roman Stoic philosopher Seneca wrote in his letters to his friend, Lucilius that you must change the mind, not the venue. While that is sound advice, I think for me, there is a venue component that helps change my mind. That venue is a warm, blue ocean, where I can descend beneath the surface and be immersed in this therapeutic environment. Being a scuba diver takes me to locations and the activity that enables my mind to change.
Scuba diving is therapeutic. Divers talk about the feeling of weightlessness, the calmness of being disconnected from the hectic world and the mindfulness achieved through slow and steady breathing. Organizations like Diveheart and Dive Pirates train people with disabilities in scuba diving. You can read or watch amazing testimonials on how being a diver has freed them from the confines of their disability and lessened their chronic pain.
I did not discover scuba diving until later in life. I am fortunate that I was able to be comfortable in the water and to have a family who found scuba diving equally exciting. After twenty plus years of continuous diving, this is the longest period of time that I have gone between dives. Through the Covid years, I continued to dive locally and we did get some travel within the US. Owning the dive shop required that I be in the water a lot. That changed last year with our retirement. My blue mind benefits from work evaporated. I must now make it a priority to seek out ways to keep my blue mind.
In a week, I am heading down to Key Largo. This is a special place where I did my first independent open water dive. I can already start to feel the change in my thinking. Envisioning the dive sites, the hotel on the marina, and the strip of land surrounded by water is starting to re-engage my blue mind. Perhaps we will be fortunate again to dive on the Christ of the Abyss Statue. It now has a different meaning having viewed the The Legend of the Statue video. However, the dive sites will not matter as much as being where I need to be – scuba diving.
Have you lost your blue mind? If not, fantastic. If you have, let me know how you are planning to find your blue mind again.