Editorial: A Natural Adventure

June-July 2005

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

As we take our first few strokes away from land in a kayak or canoe, we discover the ease of propelling ourselves with a paddle. We smile at the simplicity of our vessel, its balance, our control, the quiet efficiency of our passage, the surprising fluid energy and delight we feel.

Talk about getting off the beaten track—we get off the track altogether. The ‘trackless way’ is on the water. It turns out that real freedom is getting free of the land.

No longer do the terrestrial rules apply. We experience highly fluid realities, patterns of tide, wave, wind. In this ever-changing realm, we rejoin the flow, rediscovering the liquidity in ourselves. We’re largely water beings, after all, so it all comes naturally to us.

And as the shore recedes, the whole, vast, complex beauty of the ocean opens up to us as never before. We see freshly into the depths and shallows from our new vantage at water level. The whales, eagles, salmon fill us with joy. These are our cousins. We remember them. It’s good to be back.

And it all makes perfect sense. In a confusing and frightening world such as ours, when we don’t know who to trust, we can believe in the power of a whale, the chittering call of an eagle, the silver flash of salmon. These amazing creatures survive and thrive here. It’s more their world than ours. They have their own purposes, ranges, offspring, prey, predators... all the challenges of living. And now they face new threats of toxic contamination and climate change posed by us.

We are lucky to meet them, by their choosing, on their terms. As we breathe in the spirit of their world, we resolve to take better care of this Commons. Our ocean. Ourselves.

Being here is a start. The next step is to become an advocate for nature.

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