What relaxes and calms me?

A: Being out among nature and watching underwater film footage such as the Blue Planet.

(Busy busy here so not much time to write.)

I love any outdoor body of water: pond, lake, ocean, quary, creek, stream, river, waterfall. I am fascinated by the movement of water.

When in Belize on our honeymoon (2000), we met another diver who was actually a hypnotist. He would use nature videography to calm and hypnotize people (for theraputic medical purposes). At the time I was dabbling in some very amateur underwater videography and Harley was starting his underwater photography career. We thought it would be a great idea to use underwater videography for relaxation! Even the surface above water has always had a calming hypnotic effect on me.

I remember the days when I could avidly water ski. Salom skiing was my favorite. I was entranced by leaning over and gleaning at the water. The fast pace of movement and percision made me imagine of being a powerful shark cutting through the liquid glass at high speed. I was also drawn by the foaming and bubbling of the water behind the boat's motor. It was glorious and dazzling in the sun!

I have not water skiied or dove (scuba) since before the radiosurgery. The treatment left me without the incredible sense of balance I once had. In fact, without my eyes open or a mask while in the water I get very disoriented and cannot tell which way is the surface (vertigo). However, I am still hynotically drawn to the water. It calls to me. Whenever I see it I long to jump in or at least touch it.

Last night when walking the dogs at Marymoor dog park, I decided to walk them to Lake Sammamish after one lap around the park. When we arove a sense of nostalgia and peace overtook my being. It completed the day by providing a satisfying reward by just seeing it. A herring flew above in the pink and lavendar lined clouds of the setting sun while the lake water gently weaved underneath the beautiful lilypads and white blossoms. In the distance we could see the reflection of the setting sun shedding a pinkish hue on Sauk mountain and a lone outboard boat with two fisherman lazily relaxing in hopes of an evening catch. It was so incredible that I did not want to leave but time had to pull us away as I had to get to get in some weight lifting at the gym before it closed.

Today I felt a little panicky thinking about the approaching date of my medical consultation and the thought entered my mind about maybe needing to cut off my hair for a surgery. Thank God I have a nice series of underwater videos that I can retreat to. I popped in the Blue Planet DVD "Seasonal Seas and Coral Seas" and immediately the microscopic Copepod environment enthralled me in interest and the gracefully swimming jellyfish put my mind at rest.

Now I can get on with the day.