Creative Writing Piece – All is Forgotten

This is a descriptive piece of writing. The purpose of this piece of writing is to portray an idea of what spearfishing and freediving means to me and illustrates what I think are the spiritual, mental and physical benefits to spearfishing and freediving.

All is forgotten.

As the business of the world drifts away, this new world full of mystery is drawing closer. This is my world. As I submerge myself into this new environment my eyes pick up colours of green, crystal clear blues and ominous browns. The ocean water is clear beyond belief and everything is perfect. I dive deeper and the salty sea water fills my snorkel, seeping into my mouth. I taste the bitterness of this saline solution but it does not matter. This is what floats my boat. The calm and quiet where no sound can penetrate is overwhelming and the anticipation is immense.

Anything could happen now and the unpredictability of my surroundings adds to the excitement and awe.

I spot the spiny red heads of Crayfish waiting for their prey to drift by and the Paua cling to their rock like a little boy clings to his lollipop. Now I see the red stripes of a Moki and the distinct square shape of the peaceful Eagle Ray as he glides, undisturbed along the seafloor.

I spot another fish. But this one is different.

This one is a trophy, well for me at least. The hunt is now on. I spot my prey and slowly maneuver myself onwards, careful not to spook the fish that is covered in shining red and opal. As I pop my head over the ledge of brown rock and drifting seaweed, he spots me, and effortlessly darts away like a torpedo through the water. The red Snapper is well renown for its elusive behavior, making it a trophy for many Spearos like myself. This one got away but there will be more so I am not fazed. The sheer beauty of this rich ecosystem is enough for me. I’m ready now, to give it another go. As I breath up I reflect on my progress so far. I take a deep breath and dive further into the unknown.  I spot a different fish, this one is wavy like the kelp and equally coloured, brown and dark green; after years of adaptation the Butterfish has mastered the art of camouflage. I approach the Butterfish carefully and take aim. As I pull the trigger the spring steel shaft shoots through the water, penetrating the fish right through the gill plate, a perfect shot!

A few hours later and I’m still on the hunt, the only difference is that I have a few fish in tow.

As I continue to survey my surroundings I notice the little shiny Kohero are darting about like headless chickens and the schools of juvenile Snapper are diving for cover. I don’t understand, never have I ever seen fish act like this so I look around for predators, hopeful to see a giant Kingfish, the biggest trophy of all. I turn around and nearly pass out. Not ten meters away glides another great predator, a three meter long Bronze Whaler Shark. In an instant calm turns to chaos. The hunter becomes the hunted. Strangely I find myself gawking over the beast’s sheer size and confidence as it swims casually through the water and, after a few seconds I come to my senses and my body goes into hyper-drive. The adrenaline is pumping. I’m Michael Phelps swimming like a speedboat, but instead of Olympic stardom, survival is in my mind. As I approach the shore I throw myself onto the gnarly rocks that line the coast. This whole event is a shock to the system but it must not control me, or haunt me. Much to my mind’s displeasure I find myself slipping back into crystal clear ocean, back into the unknown, back into the unpredictable. I must overcome this fear, otherwise it might overcome me.

Again, I am drawn back into the water, into blue.

For me, the blue is a place of rest, of refuge and of refueling.

The blue is a place where stress ceases to exist and where anxiety is not permitted. Out here, in God’s creation, the beauty is a distraction from the struggles of the world. Out here there is no ability to experience the overload of life. The blue is a place of ignorance of the desperate world around us. A place without famine, without poverty, or conflict, nor oppression, chaos, hate, violence or any other harmful thing that fellow humans might experience in the world we live in. The ocean is a way to feed my family, and an escape. An escape from the reality of the world around us and from the seemingly perpetual battle for the mental health and well being that many humans have the misfortune of struggling with.

All is Forgotten by Jahmon Wilson