A reminder of who we are... World Oceans Day

I recently watched ‘Daughter of the Sea’ a Patagonia film directed by Nicole Gormley, Nancy Kwon…. I felt a deep pull to speak about what this incredible and vulnerable story of Jaeyoun Kim, means to a 22 year old surfer and how a relationship with the ocean held me.

How can we forget? How can we let ourselves be so swept up in this competitive and intangible life - a chase of invisible sense of success, imaginary numbers to lead us to false happiness.

I know I am lucky. Lucky to have grown outside this world and surrounded by a strength from my mother and grandmother who radiate this wisdom and perspective. I’m lucky I found my own relationship with the ocean. Teaching and nurturing without words - giving this space to truly listen to your heart.

When I was around 14 and the high school expectations began to demand more and more… I realised I was different, I honestly couldn’t keep up... But I held this love of my family and the ocean and shifted. Although from the surface I held a competitive fire to chase a dream of surfing but really I just wanted to surf forever.

I would then listen to my mother’s activism friends in Japan and feel helpless when learning about the amount of girls my age deciding to end their own lives. I felt a deep pain, what if each one of those young girls had an experience with the ocean like I had nearly every morning? Could this life force be felt for everyone or was I simply lucky?

My mother visited some dear friends in Onjuku, a small fishing village with a celebration of their community, held a small festival. This is where she found the Ama women.

Immediately sharing this surreal story of a legacy of women diving to provide for their families for generations, each holding a unique relationship with the ocean which gave so much. A balance between strength and vulnabilty, it gave me inspiration of my own navigation through womanhood.

It gave me hope for women who have seemed to forget their way to be.

That the answer was lying in the twirling wakame and the sea sprayed cliffs.

Returning to the sea, we're remembering what it is to be women, what it means to be human. That we are part of this beautiful and resilient Earth.

We return to the womb of life, in humble appreciation of its abundance...

Happy World Oceans Day.

Here is the link to the Patagonia Film; Daughter of the Sea; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nNXdzvex08

A visit of my own when I was 18 years old, alongside Jeen Kim and her Haenyno grandmother; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBvoysRl7fY