Darkness
So, if you didn't know (why would you know?) I am a certified Divemaster. I have now completed over 200 dives in various parts of the world with a majority of them coming from Asia. It is kind of odd, that to me they all seem to merge together other than a few stand out dives that burn vividly in my brain. One of those being the first time I saw it...
So, we were on a dive site called cenigan wall and we were heading on down to our maximum depth, roughly 35-40m. This dive site is a fairly exposed site with potentially heavy currents, BUT an amazing chance to see some great marine life. The dive started just as every dive did, we get the ok on the surface and then we make our way down to maximum depth and then slowly move our way back up. I didn't know that this dive would be different. On this particular site at around 35-40m the wall dips back into itself creating almost a shelf in the reef. Below this shelf... resides darkness. And i'm not talking about when you were a kid and your parents shut the light off. I'm talking about the inifinite, light eating, seemingly impossible darkness that resides in the ocean.
I remember shining my light out and even trying to get my eyes to focus on this blackness. Trying to assess a true depth or gauge of how far I was looking only to come to the conclusion of confusion. Not only was it a memorable dive because of finding this never ending pitch blackness. It was my meditation and thoughts on it for the remainder of the dive and the coming weeks.
You see one of the reasons why I love diving is the ability to meditate and reflect on ideas. Similar to running there is little to no communication. Just the physical act itself, the repeated slow and controlled breathing, the minute adjustments made to buoyancy, equipment, or brief inspections of the reef. The thing about the darkness that made me think was the idea of our lives.
We start our lives just like a dive. We get into the water and have an idea of what our general plan is. Go to school, mature, get and education, take a job, etc.. Until a moment that changes you, or gives you a pause. I've found these moments almost exclusively in nature. Something so big, so grandiose strikes you and makes you reflect. And just like I thought I knew what to expect from this dive (life), I got a curveball. The darkness is our future. The unknown. The unexplored. The quiet.
We can try to shine our light, or bring into focus what some of these details may be. Yet, to no avail, we continue to only be able to control the "now". So, here's your gentle reminder. Our future is unknown. We can try and predict what will come from the darkness, but in the end it is each day, each hour, each second that we can do the things we feel are right with intention, purpose, and passion. Confucius said that we have two lives, and the second starts when we realize we only have one. So, we may not always have it figured out, or have everything always going our way, but we will always have the darkness.
On purpose,
Matt