Allow for FLOW

If given a choice, I’d live under the sea, George-Jetson-style. I love water as a truth serum, the saltier the better. Nothing excites me more than the cacophony of sea life

The water cools each cell of my skin, the largest human organ, which normally vibrates at much higher levels when on dry land. Vagus nerve endings run the length of my body, creating a crown to root refresh upon submersion in the deep blue ocean.

On a recent snorkel trip in the Caribbean waters off of Turks and Caicos my focus on finding the turtles and bright fish had my head on a feris wheel. It had been decades since I’d been near an ocean reef water so clear and blue, the choppy waves bounced my body and brain around.

Initially, fear of the unknown set it. Despite being a strong swimmer, I moved quickly against the ocean waves, my heartbeat quickened as I kicked against the soft blue water, looking for comfort in snorkeling strangers.

Getting my bearings, my head out of the water with my body swaying under the water, I was off balance. I forgot my skills, I lost my rational thinking. Dunking my face into the waves is where the liquid world finally came into perfect clarity. The silence under Grace Bay calmed my mind to focus on the natural ocean rhythms. Organic tide movements removed my resistance.

When I stopped following my fellow swimmers, I noticed the baby turtle dining on the bottom, its head markings elaborate and like a fingerprint. Turtle head markings were perfectly spaced, their patterns held my attention.

What is holding your attention in life that creates a curiosity you’ve been searching for?

My interest turned on towards the experienced diver swimming beneath me, my teacher in real time. Tracking his slow fins kicks, I slowed my eyes to a school of tiny fish and clusters of miniature teal fish I’d otherwise have moved past.

The stunning coral fans a mile off the shoreline were unnoticeable at first.

But then I got a life lesson I’d been truly avoiding of late. My initial dunk under water, hair already wet from our first swim was less about spotting a new fish species, but observing an underwater dance. The fan coral, deep purple, grew out of the reef haphazardly but its movements were anything but perfectly synchronized.

I was transfixed by the purple fan coral’s movement, in perfect harmony, of the underwater garden. Light flickering through water droplets to highlight the living plants I’d have missed if we hadn’t stopped to notice them.

Each plant moved independently yet in a symphony choreographed by the tidal ecosystem. It was breathtaking. The natural perfection of true flow was there for me to witness. A message from the universe is moving with a current instead of against it.

What is easy for you when you lean on your strengths and passions?

The fans moved to a beat I could feel but not hear, the surface waves were conducting a dance that moved under a current on the ocean floor. The moon was the unseen maestro. I’ve never been so stunned at a moment in my environment, as if something sent a signal to my heart.

When the underwater orchestra played, I took notes. I’ve been home for a months, here are a few lessons from my journal of that spring 2024 trip.

Finding Flow

1- Rather than pushing a boulder uphill, go with what you know as a baseline. In mid career, starting from zero is not an option. Rather moving from a common ground creates flow.

2- Living in flow is stunning. Allow it. Stressing out for no reason when things are in sync is jumping the gun.

3- Understand what is in front of you and above you and below you and to the left and right. However, focus on what’s in front of you, first. You’ll miss so much being distracted.

4- Nature has so many lessons, notice how to hold yourself through natural elements.