11/07/2023
Like all human beings, we were born in the heart of mother-earth. We have arms and legs, we breathe oxygen that goes into small lungs. We spend a large part of our lives in an upright position which gives us greater autonomy and comfort on earth. Superficially seen we are equal to all human beings.
But, digging a little deeper, something makes us different. We were born with eyes accustomed to the blue of the waters. We have a body that yearns for the arm of the sea and a lung that accepts great deprivations of air just to prolong our life in the blue world.
We are men and women of restless spirits. We seek in our lives more than what has been given to us. We have done great tests to get close to the fish. We twist our feet into big flippers, keep our body warm with fake fur, and also get a new lung on our back. And all this for what? To be able to satisfy a passion, a dream. Because somehow, somehow, we have been ushered into a new world. A world of silence, calm, mystery, respect and friendship. And this calmness and silence made us forget the clutter and turbulence of our domestic world. The mystery involved our heart thirsty for adventure.
The respect we learn for the true inhabitants of this world. Respect that we can only understand after feeling the innocence of a fish, the intelligence of a dolphin, the majesty of a whale or even the strength of a shark.
And friendship. When we go to the bottom of the sea, we find that we could never live alone. Then we get someone else. And this person, called duo, partner or simply friend, becomes important to us. Because, in addition to being able to save our lives, we share everything we've seen and heard. And in doubles, we have teams, and they get bigger and more united. And so we realize that we are all old friends even if we don't know him. And this bond that unites us is greater than any other we have ever encountered.
And that makes us more than friends, we make brothers.
They make us divers.
Jacques Cousteau.
