Editorial: Another realm of being

June-July 1995

This is an article from WaveLength Magazine, available in print in North America and globally on the web.

by Alan Wilson

Do you ever feel that life is `heavy', that the weight of things is dragging on you, that your efforts are met with resistance and friction, that you're bogged down? Blame it on gravity, the force that gives "weight" and "seriousness" to our lives.

This is why dreams of floating and flight are so compelling and widespread--as we aspire to free ourselves from the gravitational forces and become the free-spirited beings we intuitively feel we are.

Perhaps this is one of the reasons we've developed such powerful technologies to help us overcome the gravitational pull--cars, powerboats, planes--and explains the huge cost we are willing to pay for them.

But these technologies consume large quantities of matter and energy, and leave behind harsh consequences in the air, water, and land--not to mention the sometimes drastic results of mechanical breakdown or human error.

Thus the attraction of human-powered vehicles, especially bicycles and kayaks.

But where cycling is often tied to surfaces developed for and dominated by cars, or prepared trails, paddling has the virtue of allowing you to enter a non-terrestrial realm, a world largely untransformed by human hands.

Paddling allows those of us who have dreams of floating and flying to enter another realm of being, a fluid realm--the undulating, trackless way--and escape the usual grip of gravity. It also emphasizes the beauty of SLOW as opposed to the high speed of modern life, of finesse over power, and provides a degree of intimacy with the marine realm unmatched by other forms of water-borne travel.

The sea kayak is thin shell, a vehicle deliberately minimalized, with virtually no moving parts, enabling the paddler to get as close to the sea as possible, and to travel upon its surface with incredible efficiency, leaving only ripples behind.

There is a simple joy in returning to the fluid environment from whence we came, to float upon it and be rocked by it, putting us in touch with the great rhthyms of the world--tides, currents and winds.

The kayak paddle is a beautiful extension of our body. The paddle blades on either side are our outstretched finger tips, stroking the water, fuelled by our joy and desire. And we are captain of our craft, navigating by the seat of our pants, feeling all the forces of nature, and adjusting intuitively to them as we move along.

We paddle, often within a few metres of the shore, sometimes scooting along in the shallows with barely any water beneath. Sometimes we float in amazement above a world of tidal beings, open and waving up at us, as the currents gently draw us along. And sometimes it's a wave-tossed world we find ourself in, surging and powerful, and we fly along in a breathless excitement.

So, if gravity is getting you down, come back to our great mother ocean.