Life Vests: Grateful for What Guards Us
FIJI
After meeting Fiji for the first time, coming back here again was necessary. This time, the weather and wonders worked out, enabling me to join in on the Fijian hype. As a landing and launching pad, my time here was intermittent, seeing Nadi, Suva and some of the outer islands allowed for expanded experiences. Housing over 300 islands, picking a proper place can sway one’s sentiments significantly. Divided into two major island groups, the Mamanuca and Yasawa have a smorgasbord of selection, catering to people’s preferences for sites, excursions, budgets and ambiance. Of all the places that I mulled over, organizing this part of my time in Fiji was the most bandwidth heavy.
This island resort was a well oiled machine alongside little Fijian flares that made it feel special. Arriving at the Yasawa channel, as our boat approached the inlet we were greeted with a cultural welcome from the Warrior of the Rock, a man poised at the peak of a boulder, woven waistband and traditional tools in hand, welcoming (or waving good bye) to the resort guests.
In Fiji, many of these reachable islands also offer day trips for others to tickle their tastebuds at various islands. If I wasn’t lounging away my last leg here, I’d be doing the gymnastics it takes to get to an outer island, where the poster style Fiji is more likely to be found. After our welcome drink and watching enticing videos on the possible activities, I checked in to the kind of lodgings that seem splurge worthy - a blend of culture, comfort and connection:
Soon after, I joined the guided snorkel tour just on the heels of dabbling at the lunch buffet. Unlike the several South Pacific snorkels I enjoyed, this one was in rougher waters. The surge swept me sideways, serially surprising me. Like the newborn startle reflex, my body responded before my mind could, sometimes even grasping into the water, as if that would offer some stability from the source itself.
I like life jackets. They afford additional security, comfort, reassurance and when needed, hope. I think of the people in my life who function in much the same way. Folks I turn to, to draw them near and count on them when life’s ebb swells, those that let me float when I need rest and others, who lend me courage in tougher waters.
I wondered if we ought to name those who armour us for life’s (joy) ride, perhaps tacitly or overtly acknowledging and appreciating their value add on our journey. Who are your life vests? In tandem of taking time to express gratitude, maybe we could also consider how to better be one. I considered how I may support others, not necessarily like the saving function of the entire yellow floaty, but to whistle a little voice, to help shine some light on a blind spot or perhaps to pump up another’s project, passion on sense of self worth - clearly, I was looking at life vests anew.
The water was warm, but the wind was strong and cool. I looked down to where our guide pointed out a school of barracuda then a moray eel that undulated underwater, disappearing soon thereafter. While the visibility has been fabulous in Fiji, my attention falls on only a fraction of the forays. The static sound of the ocean here is evident, telling us that it’s teeming with healthy coral activity.
We swam through patches of hard and soft coral where Lulu, one of the island’s marine biologists, pointed out fun facts. Hard coral is divided into slow (1 cm/year) or fast growing (10 cm/year, faster than hair growth). Dancing and dangling, soft coral is there more to beautify the landscape. Intended to be white, coral picks up colour from its symbiotic mate, algae, that grows on it. In this marine protected sanctuary, a coral nursery is set up. We toured the clothesline like apparatus with thousands of coral fragments on it while she shared that the fragments are monitored by the staff for a year before they are planted with sand and cement onto pre-existing coral to help them safeguard themselves and jump start their own growth.
Lulu cautioned against the firework coral, an ornery and orange outcrop which she identified for us, then showcased the burn mark it left on her last week. Lest we left with that impression, she pointed to a plethora of other varieties. From the gyri that resemble our own cortex, brain coral were plunked amidst other branched varieties of coral. I looked on, admiring my aerial view. As I breathed in from the air above me, I saw a patch below me that looked like an early snow landed on an autumn forest. A little further, plate coral caught my eye with their flat and thin surface areas (an adaptation that optimizes photosynthesis). To me, it looked like an expensive piece of ultramodern kitchen furniture, living up to their alternate name of table coral. Then, we marveled at magic coral whose soft extensions resembled a brown cauliflower; instantaneously, it turned white upon touch.
As we float through life, be it admiring coral within water or weathering the complex currents of our daily dramas on land, inevitably, we’ll see sharks!
Some fellow travelers caught the action on camera (thank you!) and as you might expect, a few lurked back and watched while others leaned in. However we choose to navigate a particular ‘threat’/challenge/adventure in our lives, I thought of life vests yet again. What scares or stresses one may excite another, yet few of us leave life unscathed.
Being tossed around in the elements, I’m a fan of having a Life Vest. For this grace of life-preserving gentle cradling regardless of time, tide and turbulence, today, I bear witness knowing that without this support, I simply would not be.
Feeling secured in this way, I could now focus on other frames. Just doorsteps from the shore, there was an abundance that quickly came into view. I saw trumpet fish and a dog-faced puffer fish ahead of me and to my left, little blue fish dazzled as if confetti was just flung. On my right, a school of tiny translucent tadpoles made it seem like in that section, it was snowing sparkling fresh snowflakes. Just in this small space, there was so much to see! I turned my gaze to the side and saw an orange and black fish ready for Halloween, eyelid liner heavy like a rock star, eyelash extensions on but mascara running … maybe because it wasn’t waterproof? ;)
I wondered how much of life passes me by but with my myopic gaze (limited by schedules, society or self imposed), I see only a small sliver. With transactions, truth, tales and tantalizing things teeming around me on this tour, I wondered how we can better uptake today and tomorrow? Eyes closed dry and on land, I pondered. Perhaps it is in the leaning on and leveraging of our life vests to take either that first step into waters unexplored, or that deeper plunge that we all, one day, will need to make.
May we, especially with today’s auspiciousness, bow in gratitude for the life support we’ve received and may this enable us even more wholehearted living in all terrains,