Hello, Hive!
How do you find peace when your thoughts are racing and you are overwhelmed with intense feelings of fear, anger, disappointment and sadness — all at the same time? Until now, I still haven't found the perfect formula for handling situations like this. Some days, I turn to poetry to pour my heart out. Other times, a good sleep will just do the trick. Then there's music and Netflix and retail therapy, and all the other ways to take my mind off something stressful. But the best of them by far is a quite time in nature.
Be it a hike on the trails of Cebu City or a camping trip to the faraway peaks of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, nature simply keeps me grounded. It reminds me that I, along with all my worries and problems, am just a dot in a bigger picture.
But who would have thought I’d find the same kind of calm beneath the sea?
Learning slowly but surely...
Last month, I've shared with you my friendly introduction to freediving which actually led to snorkeling in the end. It was fun nonetheless though I wished I could be half as good as my friends. HAHA!
After that FAIL (First Attempt In Learning), I told myself that I would try harder next time. And that “next time” is what I will share with you in this post.
July started rough for me – physically, mentally and emotionally. As an introvert, I don’t only thrive on doing things that I love, but on being with people I feel safe with. And there are not many of them. That’s what kept me going at work for almost 11 years now. So when our company dropped the ‘Friday bomb”, all motivations in me went down the drain. I didn’t want to move or think. I was close to cancelling our planned weekend fun dive because I was feeling demotivated. But I’m glad I didn’t. Even if it was for a short time, I forgot all the negativities. I found peace of mind.
Like our Moalboal trip, @iamcjestrada played the role of the leader in organizing this fun dive. I thought there it was only @ybanezkim26, @kev.incredible, @junjinju and I, but it turned out that @kev.incredible backed out and some of CJ’s diver friends are coming along instead.
I was reluctant when I learned this since it would mean that I will be the only one in the group without professional training and proper gears. But you’ll never know unless you try, they say. So off I went to Mactan.
Fun dive at KonTiki Dive Resort
KonTiki is one of the many dive sites in the island of Mactan. Because of its close proximity to the reef, the resort is a popular among those who want to take freediving and scuba diving certification courses. There's nothing grand about the place itself but I tell you, people eager to learn really do flock to this area.
Early birds on site were Kim Junji and I. While waiting for the others to arrive, we decided to eavesdrop to the group across our table who was having a freediving introduction class. Kudos to @iamjestrada because his improvised Freediving 101 PowerPoint slide tackled more or less the same topics as what the professional dive instructor was discussing. Finally, when the rest of the group came, we headed straight to the sea.
My mermaidhood journey — one step at a time
The weather was fine that day, albeit the slightly rough tide. Upon going down the concrete steps, we were met by crashing waves. I held on to the buoy since the resort ran out of fins and I wasn’t able to rent one.
We swam a little farther from the shore, passing by a bed of fertile seagrass along the way. Its underwater scene may not be as rich as that of Moalboal but KonTiki does have a thriving marine life.
The group stopped nearby a stationary yacht and set up the freediving line system. We tethered a 20-meter rope into the buoy and waited for the bottom weight to reach the sea floor. However, it didn’t. CJ and the guys checked out how far we were from the bottom and, indeed, we’re way past 20 meters. Since it’s not a risk one should take without a professional guide, we decided to move to a less deeper area and switch to CJ’S 10-meter rope.
Here, Kim asked me to try the line setup which I found was less scary because of the guiding rope. He told me to practice being comfortable being underwater and observe how far I can go, how long can I last. While I found it easy to go down the line, I wasn’t able to go deeper. For some reason, my left ear kept hurting at a certain depth and I couldn’t equalize. I tried equalizing above the water too, but to no avail.
I also just realized after seeing the videos how funny I looked holding onto the rope. Even under the water, mountaineering really does run through my vein as shown in this rappelling position. Or perhaps burglary. I looked like a thief coming down from the window. HAHA!
Still, progress is progress. I was happy enough reaching three meters deep compared to last month’s waist-deep underwater shot. I've learned about my limits and what needs to improve. Next time, I will definitely try swimming with freediving fins. 😀
Maria is a hopeless romantic who travels in pages and places. She is an INFP who loves sunrises and moonlight nights and reading books in between. On weekdays, she works for a self-publishing company as a copywriter. On weekends, she lives for life as a poet or hiker. She hopes to share her love for words and the world with you here on HIVE.
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