There are individuals who would enter a pool in no other way than to dive, head first and with conviction. Some with knowledge of depth and others with a keen intuition and trust in skill and judgement.
Either way, these individuals do not waste time. They do not care about temperature or slimy, aquatic life lurking below. Divers just go for it.
Swim team ended over 15 years ago and I still find myself diving into deep and unfamiliar waters. There is a certain lust in the unknown, in the possibilities and opportunities of increasing one's understanding of the world and connection to place.
Swimming in the unknown waters surrounding Galapagos Islands
The lust increases and a bug attacks me, forcing me to dive. This learning bug assaults me every so often, leaving me in fits of late-night research, over-consumption of coffee and high fevers of passion and excitement.
Most recently, it has been rivers.
Ok, you're right, its always been rivers.
It began with learning to descend them safely in a kayak, moving to gaining familiarity with flows and locations and ultimately sharing this process with other newbies. Separately, I explored ecosystems, habitats and environmental services as a scientist and environmental educator.
Now these passions meet. Or perhaps they have been good friends all along, finally awakening me to their intrinsic connection.
So now I dive again, into the turbulent waters of river conservation and advocacy.
I assign myself projects: digesting complicated documents loaded with obscure verbiage, filtering through countless blog rolls for real news headlines, recording notes and thoughts for no exact purpose other than proof of accomplishment.
This all might seem pointless to you. (Or to my family who wonders if I will ever get paid for this type of dedication.)
To that, I point out that dedication to knowledge acquisition is never pointless. Especially when combined with intention to use the information for positive change. In other words, I know this information will prove useful for me. As I learn more and swim deeper into these waters, I feel the weight and pressure grow, becoming more excited by the second. Rather than gasping for air and swimming to the surface, I'm growing gills.
I think I'll be swimming down here for a while.
Condit Dam, murky waters of Northwestern Lake surging over 185 ft. dammed dam.
Interpreted, synthesized and reformatted for the ease of others' understanding:
Currently attacking:
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