Ocean Origins

"Change your water, change your life."

In 2018, I began to change my relationship with water and watched my life change. The relationship between humanity and the ocean is primordial. The ocean has shifted my understanding of aliveness and flow. I believe there is an extraordinary opportunity for humanity at this time. Science says that the oceans are suffering and changing due to our human impact, and the world as we know it will follow. In a crisis, there is always opportunity. The inescapable reality is that our individual and collective choices ripple through the blue planet we call home. The time to change our story is now. We are being called to rise to inspired action, to remember our origin, and to reconnect to our truest nature that has been lost.

What has failed humanity is the belief and mindset that we are above nature and that our existence and material desire is more important than the protection and sustainability of our ecosystems. As a collective, we have adopted and perpetuated a story of consumption and conquer. The cost of convenience without proper management or prioritization of our precious and limited resources has led to the deficit, depletion, and degradation of life on earth. Our apex predators and fish populations are on a sharp decline. Our coral reefs are being overtaken by algae, urchins, and skeleton gardens under the sea. Our oceans are permeated with plastic, toxins, and human waste. We have places in the world where people are without access to clean drinkable water. Our rivers and streams have run dry and areas of land dehydrated and fallow. Water connects all life on earth and the wellbeing of the ocean is fragile in humanity's hands.

“When we lose access to our waters, we lose a piece of ourselves,” said Dr. Wallace J. Nichols in one of his e-mails to his Blue Mind Ambassadors. This statement sent waves through my being. Is our ocean’s current state a direct reflection of our state, a result of our severed connection to water in each and every form?

Over the years, I’ve grown discouraged by the current state of the ocean and the apathy of people. The gap between the continued damage and our vision of recovery is alarming and confronting. It's time to ask ourselves with brutal honesty and compassion: how can we bridge the gap before it’s too late?

In 2018, I began following the Blue Mind Movement led by Dr. Wallace J. Nichols. Nichols believes that the shift must come first to our home and more importantly, in our personal water story. Nichols is an evolutionary ecologist and research associate at the California Academy of Sciences and is pioneering a new wave of interdisciplinary solutions. One of the leading researchers of health benefits on water, Nichols has two initiatives that focus on the ocean: Blue Mind Conference and Blue Marble Project. He also wrote the book Blue Mind, 2014, which dives into the foundation of his projects and offers readers a new perspective on the power of water in our lives.

So what and why Blue Mind? Nichols defines Blue Mind as “a mildly meditative state characterized by the calm peacefulness of unity in a sense of general happiness and satisfaction with life at the moment.”

Neuroscience has covered studies of the effects of meditation, chocolate, exercise, and movement on the brain, yet there are but a few studies on the effects of our planet’s dominant feature — water- on the brain. The pairing of neuro-conservation cleverly utilizes the insights of neuroscience to understand better the undervalued and unknown benefits of being in, under, on top, and near bodies of water.

To achieve sustainable traction in conservation Nichols believes in beginning with shifting the anxiety around the environmental issues from despair into hope. How do we incite hope in people? We begin by changing our personal water story from one of disconnection to reconnection. We must lead by example and embody the capacity for change in our own life first and foremost.

My journey of reconnecting to water took on a life of its own. Growing up on a destination island surrounded by magical blue hues and white sand beaches, I am undeniably connected to water. Although I didn't grow up a surfer or swimmer, I always found comfort on the beach or near the river. When I learned how to surf and snorkel, I became more curious about the ocean's landscape, vegetation, and creatures around me. I studied with the local marine conservation program at the University and imagined a career serving and protecting the ocean. Yet, when my mentors shared about the reality of the ocean's health I felt powerless. When I discovered Blue Mind Movement, a light bulb flickered in my mind. I realized there were other ways to serve and protect the ocean aside from the traditional conservation route. In my personal effort to change my water story, I decided to explore the intersections of my curiosities and passions for the ocean. As I went deeper into the ocean, I found myself chasing flow.

Not only does the ocean provide resources for the Earth's livelihood, but it is an environment where we can cultivate a relationship of flow. What is flow? The term "flow-state" was coined by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, one of the co-founders of Positive Psychology, and was one of the first to research flow. Like Nichol's "blue mind", flow is an optimal state of consciousness that changes the body's physiology and that allows for peak performance and innovation. In addition to increased productivity, motivation, and focus - over time, consistent flow spent in nature can lead to ecological awareness, a sense of belonging, and fulfillment.

Flow is key to changing our relationship to water and the ocean because flow allows us peak experiences that provide the perspective change necessary. What needs correction is our perspective, the way we relate to water and the ocean. We must change the perspective that we are separate, or that the ocean is only a place to pump and dump as we wish. When we look to the communities that revere their relationship to water, we see their loyalty, devotion, and connection. We feel their commitment and their intention to preserve and protect. The more flow we get in the water, the more connected we feel to the water. The more flow we get in the water, the more flow we get in life.

In 2020, I began training with the Flow Research Collective and began opening my mind to Flow's potential for innovation and healing. As the pandemic spread across the world, I found health and healing in the ocean. I lost my day job working at the local spa and took the time to give thought to how I could create a career that I loved and was devoted to a mission greater than myself. While the island was shut down to tourists, we soon realized the dramatic difference in water quality and health in a short few months. We were blessed with empty beaches and undisturbed reefs. My partner and I found a new love for spearfishing as a sustainable way to hunt and harvest our own food during the pandemic. In the months following our spearfishing trials, my partner and I watched Seaspiracy and both realized the power and responsibility we felt to the ocean. I realized there was an opportunity to share my love for the ocean and for flow in a more meaningful and powerful way. A few days after we watched the confronting documentary, we received a surprise phone call that led us to a rare opportunity to start a boat charter business.

This summer we will officially open Black Pearl Ocean Excursions to the public, and is our way of providing sustainable and eco-conscious tourism and education to our community. Profits from Black Pearl Ocean Excursions will help fund our non-profit that will support ocean conservation and also connect specific communities like sexual abuse victims and individuals with spinal cord injury and paralysis to the healing potential of water and flow.

Below are the simple 10 ways that I began creating waves of change and changing my relationship to water, and you can too.

10 Ways To Create Waves

1. Change Your Water Story - Take accountability for your relationship to water, within and around you

2. Reduce or Eliminate your seafood consumption. Or learn to sustainably harvest or hunt your own food or support local fisheries

3. Reduce or Eliminate your dairy and meat consumption. Or learn to farm and hunt your own game

4. Eliminate single-use plastics, create a to-go re-use kit

5. Stop buying bottled water

6. Invest in bio-degradable products and packaging

7. Invest in high-quality water filter systems

8. Contribute your time to your local beach clean-ups

9. Donate to your favorite ocean conservation non-profits

10. Switch out your chemical cleaners for non-toxic products

Taoists were on to something when they said, "Be like water." They observed nature and learned life's secrets that allowed one to become greater, stronger, healthier versions of oneself. Ultimately, it must become our nature to have greater awareness and accountability as stewards of our blue planet Earth and her oceans.

Wish you water,

Love Dion

For more info about our eco-tours: www.blackoceanexcursions.com

For more info about Blue Mind: https://www.wallacejnichols.org/122/bluemind.html

For more info about Flow Research Collective: flowresearchcollective.com