The roar of the boat’s engines suddenly quieted as the captain powered down. Instinctively, I braced myself and looked over my shoulder at the two nearby passengers sitting grimly in the galley telling them to hold on. The bow lifted dramatically upwards at a crazy angle revealing blue sky and a view of the agitated ocean ahead. The sharp 10 foot wave surged underneath and the bow dropped into the trough slamming everyone forward. Two more waves followed in quick succession. The anchor locker cover on the bow deck crashed open lifted by the freefall followed by the impact into water, and spray covered the entire superstructure of the boat. For perhaps the hundredth time during the two hour crossing to Santa Cruz Island, I was thankful that the captain had been aware of the stacked waves that sometimes create an unusually deep hole in the ocean, and had slowed down to make it easier for the boat and us. What a wild roller-coaster ride!
I’ve always been interested in the transition zone where we cross from our safe and comfortable world into a wilderness setting. Until I started participating in ocean sports such as scuba diving, kayaking and surfing, I’d been under the misguided impression that wilderness was somewhere far-off the beaten path that needed much planning and equipment for a person to immerse themselves. Even the definition of wilderness: a tract or region uncultivated and uninhabited by human beings supports this view. Wilderness should be far away from people shouldn’t it? Personally, I like the old English, wilde, which is described as a place in the natural state, uncultivated, untamed, undomesticated, uncontrolled. Sure the simple definition of wilderness supported my views, but uncontrolled and untamed? Those are very specific terms that hint at fear, or at the very least, respect and not a geographic location. All those definitions could have been specifically chosen for just one part of our world, the part that is the largest and sometimes the least thought about- the world’s oceans. That wild ride out to Santa Cruz a few days ago sure exemplified the definitions for me.
But exactly where is this transition from everyday commonplace to wilderness? I believe that it is where we have no control of what is happening around us. In cold, murky, oceans this transition for me is very shallow-perhaps even chest deep. A mere stone’s throw from the beach. In clear, warm, tropical oceans, even if the waves are much bigger, there is a sense that the water is somehow safer and less wild because we can see through the water column. This is a fallacy as lifeguards in Hawaii have reported that many accidents occur when tourists mistake the dazzling, beautiful blue water as being more like a swimming pool than a place with rip tides, sudden large waves, and incredibly strong currents.
For most people, swimming beyond the breakers at the beach is definitely moving from a safe(r) area to a more unknown and, especially in the case of cold, murky water, a more dangerous and unpredictable environment. There is also the knowledge stored in our biological makeup from thousands, perhaps millions of years that when entering the ocean we are becoming part of the food chain-and not as the apex predator. The thought that simply by swimming a few yards offshore we have changed from intelligent and technically savvy creatures capable of manipulating our environments to make life easier and more comfortable to being, well, food for another creature is a little unnerving for most people. Perhaps that’s why surfers have so much of the world’s seashores to themselves…
So, why spend time in the wilderness, even one as uncontrollable as the ocean? What do we get from the experience that is worth us becoming shark poop? Our ancestors knew that to venture out into the unknown was to test themselves, a place to measure and compare their physical, emotional, and cognitive strength. Venturing out into the unknown and facing adversity made them intrinsically stronger. Modern people entering the wilderness reconnect to not only our natural world, but also to our physical bodies and senses that have evolved to be part of a natural environment. We are ideally suited to be part of nature even if we are not the fastest or strongest creatures out there. Even our very brain waves change beneficially when we are in a predominantly green or blue environment as we find ourselves living in the moment and connected to nature with a calm mind. That is the very reason architects and planners incorporate green areas inside most public buildings in Nordic countries such as Finland-the calm that comes from being in a wilderness area can be reproduced indoors to trick our brains when we are unable to leave the office.
As a diver and surfer, I enjoy entering the transition zone from our regular world into a wilderness environment that is mere yards away as I am forced by necessity to be in the present moving with a quiet mind. In these moments, I am aware of the beauty that is nature and the fact that there is nothing artificial about it. There, everyday worries that seemed so important on the beach become mundane and reduced in stature to their real level of importance. Watching the sun sparkle on the face of a perfect wave or watching colorful fish patrol their territory on a reef become all absorbing, reminding me of my childhood sense of wonder and the simple joy of adventure and exploration. It’s not always easy, and definitely not always safe, yet that is the power of the experience-the risk versus reward makes life richer and more fulfilling. A richer life-who does not want that?
Note: The pressures on nature from our modern human lifestyles such as pollution pesticides, chemicals, and plastics as well as habitat loss and climate change means that the world’s wilderness areas are struggling to remain untouched. They need our help to remain so, and any connection to nature is more likely to lead to better stewardship-so get out there and make your own adventure!
