Just yesterday, I re-discovered this picture from 2008. It used to be posted on the staff board of the Maldivian dive center where I spent four profoundly inspiring years. Consequently, today, I am feeling even more nostalgic than usual about those turquoise years. Let me share another little tidbit from my book with you from those times:
“With my clumsiness gone, water became my ally. Amidst the turquoise depths of the Indian Ocean, I gracefully floated, somersaulted, vaulted, stopped, and turned at my leisure. I was weightless and graceful in body – yet even more important, I was weightless and graceful in soul as well. This was the true sanctuary I had always searched and hoped for.
In addition to the Indian Ocean wrapping its strong, tender arms around me, I was blown away by the underwater life. Now that my uncoordinated struggles didn’t scare them into flight anymore, most reef inhabitants ignored my presence entirely. During every dive, hundreds of brightly-colored, graceful creatures went about their daily routines without so much as a glance towards the little guy hovering peacefully in front of them with a tank on his back. My first encounters with fully grown sharks took my breath away. Amazingly, while immersed in the Big Blue, I wasn’t scared of anything – respectful yes, but not fearful. I felt at home.”
If you want to dive in deeper, you can find Paralian in all major online book stores (Amazon, Waterstones, WHSmith, Google ebooks, Apple iBooks, Nook, Kobo, etc. as well as directly from my publisher, Troubador), or you can have your local book store order it… What better time to let yourself be whisked away on an odyssey than the middle of summer?