Life - it's worth thinking about

It feels like a long time since I first wrote but let’s be honest with eachother, sometimes life gets busy. Yeah, I know what you are thinking but I DO do things quite often. I have daily chores and responsibilities

Firstly, I’ll give you a brief rundown of what else has been happening. Juilette and Laura are deeply entrenched in their DiveMaster training while Suzi finished hers INCLUDING the snorkel test. That’s her. The one in the pictures. PLUS a new DMT – Belinda – arrived. Hurroo!

Before

After

We have been diving at Siquijor and Sumilon a fair amount recently. I understand that I talk of these magical, mystical places full of curiosity and wonderment but why? Why?! If you’ll allow me to indulge my love of the analogy then I shall explain. If you imagine my head office – Liquid HQ – is where I work, there is the conference room (the bar); breakout rooms (the classroom and dive shop) and the training facilities (the pool). We also have a few satellite offices, partner companies and preferred suppliers – dive sites. These are the Dauin Coast, Apo Island, Siquijor, Sumilon and Oslob each of which gives us something slightly different but all equally important to us. Gotta love the corporate schpeil.

This is mainly another excuse to put a photo of myself up
BUT Siquijor is in the background

I look at Siquijor every day. I am fairly sure we all do because it is on the other side of the strait from us (it’s the island in the background there). I have been here for a while and wanted to dive over there pretty much ever since I arrived so when I was presented with the opportunity I bit off everyone’s arms.

I was doing two specialities – Deep Dive and Nitrox – so not only was I on a day trip, I was a student again. It appears I really like learning about things I like. Siquijor was dive 1 of my Deep Speciality and dive 1 of Nitrox. To make things better, Our Old Friend was my instructor. What are these specialties I speak of? Well, they are basically extensions of your certifications that allow you more options when it comes to diving and dive planning. Having the deep speciality allows me to dive to 40metres which is not necessarily important but interesting. Nitrox speciality is actually quite geeky and very cool. Basically it certifies you to dive with a different blend of compressed gas. A normal tank is filled with standard compresses air which is roughly 79% Nitrogen and 21% Oxygen whereas Nitrox is usually a higher percentage Oxygen. This does not mean you can go deeper BUT it does mean you can stay at a depth for longer as I diminishes the risk and prevalence of decompression sickness.

The day started wonderfully well with the sun shining, the seas were amazingly calm and Sundancer was ready. We were a small group and spirits were high. Once we were in the water, which was a chilly 26°C (no sarcasm – it was COLD) Our Old Friend and I descended over the edge of the wall to our target depth of 36metres did some exercises and then slowly swam along the front of the wall gradually increasing out depth exploring caves and crevices along the way. I know I keep saying depth isn’t everything and it isn’t BUT it is a weird thought to be 12 stories UNDER the water. Dive two was my first Nitrox dive and it was fun. We were able to stay deeper than the rest of the group for the same time that they dived which in this case was a technicality but being deeper can often be useful if you are diving on a wreck or looking for something in particular at a given depth.

As if this wasn’t enough the NEXT day we were heading to Sumilon to finish my Deep and, just as a sweetener, we were going to hopefully go snorkelling with the local celebrities – whale sharks. Our Old Friend was in attendance and disco Phil one of our new managers. It is very rare for the three of us to head out together so, that day was a real treat. I was going to write a fair amount about my feelings of the whale shark trip and what goes on there but I think our fearless leader – Zoe – wrote a really great article on them already. HERE. Basically, there were 2 or 3 whale sharks one of which was around 12metres. I named him Humphrey. It was kinda cool for me because I was swimming back to the boat and I saw a turtle in mid-water so I stopped to look at him for a while. THEN Humphrey swam right up behind me and said hello. So at least I got to see him on my own without all the other people there. Perfect. The dives were great. I am certified to 40metres now. The company was even better. Thanks guys.

Me with Alan (in Blue) and Roy. Captions on a postcard please

It sounds silly but these days for me are made SO much better for me by hanging out with the boat crew despite not always understanding each other, the banter always flows. PLUS I get to indulge me love for music in poignant situations. Picture the scene. It’s a glorious day (in paradise). You’re on a boat with good good people. You have some of your favourite music in your ears. (this is the clincher) and you are lying on the very front of the bow of the boat. BLISS. There were many moments over these two days where I was struck by an overwhelming sense of euphoria. It’s an ALMOST indescribably perfect ethereal feeling that I have felt few times before and I doubt I will feel with such strength in the future. It takes me back to mantra I used to utter to myself a few years back when I was going through a tough time. FIND SOMETHING. GET INVOLVED. I still live and die by that. It can be something you connect deeply and emotionally with or something that fuels the fire in your belly but whatever it is and wherever it takes you, make sure have SOMETHING that fulfils your passions and get involved in it. Right now, I have travel, diving, adventure, my beard and the wonderful people I have left behind as well as those I am now surrounded by.  I am no genius, but please. Think on it. Feed your passions. They are important.

As I have already mentioned, music is a hugely significant part of my life. Recently, the song Biko by Bloc Party has been a focus. The lyrics plead ”if I could eat you cancer I would” because “you’re not doing… this alone”. Somehow the track feels uplifting and empowering while being gently punctuated by heart-wrenchingly thought provoking sentiments.  Last year I lost two very dear people to cancer. They were both awesome. They each shared an adventurous spirit with a noble, chivalrous and kind outlook on life. They were great friends to me. I like to indulge myself while listening to this song, the memories it helps to conjure and the warmth they fill me with. Peter and Mo. You truly were an inspiration. You are missed but your spirits live on!!

Jamiroqui – Blue Skies (Flux pavilion remix) – this might be for the younger folk out there. It is exactly what is says in the title. It is the audio representation of blue skies. Y’know, that soaring, timeless and ageless sensation you get when you see that gorgeous spectrum of blue that the sky has the unique ability to show-off. Thanks sky. You rock.

I hope this finds you well. I hope you are winning in whatever it is you need to win at. Most importantly, those people in life you care about know that you care.

Until the next time good people, take it easy.

Much love, Ads (beardface)