Gratitude for the Sea

It has been quite a while since I wrote a blog entry. Sometimes taking a break allows us to come back to what we left behind refreshed with new and different perspectives. At the moment I am feeling a deep sense of gratitude and appreciation for many people, places and things in my life.

In addition to working in my private practice, I have been taking pictures daily and making collages with treasures from the sea. 

For this entry I am writing about my gratitude for the ocean. By sharing,

I hope to spread the inspiration just a little bit farther…

At the moment, I am grateful for the gorgeous photography of John Weller. I met John in the Kingdom of Tonga several years ago while we were photographing Humpback whales. He, Marshall Lally and Shawn Heinrichs, ( all extraordinary photographers ) were guests in the same hotel in Vava'u. At the time, I was traveling with Tony Wu, Patrik Nilsson and my special mermaid friends Rachel Teo, May Foo and Serene Khoo from Singapore.

One night, John gave a talk and shared his pictures of the Ross Sea, Antartica. Mesmerized, I could hardly believe my eyes. The pictures were beyond anything that I had ever seen. I later learned that these pictures went into a book The Lost Ocean. This is one of the most gorgeous books that I have ever owned. Time and time again, I go these pictures and try to imagine what it might be like in such a beautiful and pristine place on earth.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Last-Ocean-Antarcticas-Ecosystem/dp/0847841235/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1404916918&sr=8-1&keywords=ross+sea+john+weller

Dr. Carl Safina wrote the forward to this magical book. I did not know that Dr. Safina and John Weller knew one another and so it was a happy reconnection with very special people whom I admire deeply. 

Here are the links for both John Weller's and Dr. Carl Safina's websites. I hope that their important messages and work prosper. They are both luminaries and great heroes in my world.

www.johnbweller.com
www.carlsafina.org

I am also grateful to Roberta Goodman. She is a rare and special gem who has literally taken me by the hand and introduced me to the wonders of the ocean. I met Roberta at a very delicate point in my life after I had lost my only sister to suicide. I flew to Hawaii not knowing exactly why I was going but in my heart, I felt the call to be with cetaceans. 

The first day that I left the comfort of the boat, I gently whispered to her that I was 'a little bit nervous about meeting the dolphins'. Her soft and gentle hand held mine and we greeted a pod of dolphins together. She let my hand go slowly into the gentle sway of the ocean. 

Those first encounters left a profound imprint on my soul, while an ancient salty memory woke up inside of me.  

Roberta has a gift in her capacity to connect with and communicate with cetaceans. I have been in the water with her countless times  ( I've now lost track exactly how many ) and each time that we are together something magical and unexpected happens.

I have had the privilege of watching Roberta and the dolphins with and without my camera. It seems that the dolphins somehow know when the camera has been left on the boat and it is time to play. There have been numerous times that we have been together and I have seen amazing grace between her, the Spinner and the Atlantic Spotted dolphins. It has been breathtaking and heart breakingly beautiful to be by her side when contact is made between cetaceans and humans. 

I am deeply grateful to Roberta, she has shared her wisdom with me as well as her open heart. Roberta is a generous teacher,  a visionary and a very dear friend.

Thank you John, Carl, Shawn, Marshall, Tony and Roberta for sharing your gifts with us!