As youngsters, many of us imagined having superpowers – abilities that make us extraordinary – so we could be better people who would be better able to do more for others. While having superpowers might seem purely fantasy, when we look at diving we find that diving makes these daydreams reality.
Superpower – Personal Transformation
American author Jack London wrote, “The proper function of a human is to live, not to exist.” There is so much living attached to the diving experience. As divers, we transform ourselves and connect to deeper purposes. We yearn to share the experience and purposes with others. Diving reflects our true selves, our love of encountering the wild and participating in nature. Unlike most of the world, we have insights into the circle of life underwater, its stunning beauty and its unparalleled splendor. We watch its inhabits as they watch us and hope they accept us.
Superpower – Personal Growth Through Exploration
We are the lucky few who, driven by a primal curiosity and a thirst to explore, dive into the sea. But diving does more than that: It takes damaged spirits and souls and brings out the best in us. Because diving is both a great equalizer, and a teacher, it rewards us as we discover new and magical places, people and cultures, at the same time escaping the congestion of humanity. Water calls out to us through all our senses, from the shimmer of the “golden hour” to the crash of surf, to the fragrance of an ocean breeze. In these ways, diving is a source of rebellion and an endless source of challenge and delight.
Superpower – Personal Humility and Wisdom
Diving is humbling. Because we depend on training, skills and life support to dive, we feel our inherent vulnerability. Diving and immersion are sensory. We must manage changes in ambient pressure, dissolved gases, currents, visibility, heat loss, gas supply, temperature, buoyancy and other divers – all while keeping calm and focused as we embrace aquatic inner space. We can only visit briefly, yet this part of our planet humbles us as we see how it continues its 24-hour cycle that supports us. Ironically, with 8 billion people on the industrialized planet now, the ocean’s future has never depended more on our decisions and actions to prioritize its survival. Humanity and ocean are both vulnerable, both codependents. As divers we understand – we witness this mutual reliance. It makes us a fortunate group, each aware that we have a choice to make.
Superpower – Personal Therapy to Combat Nature-Deficit-Disorder
In 2005, author Richard Louv introduced the term nature-deficit disorder, which describes the human costs of alienation from nature. In a world consumed by technology, social media and electronic screens that consume and define existence more each day, we risk growing separate from nature and each other physically. Some studies suggest that average daily screen time now exceeds 11 hours, with urban-living people indoors as much as 90 percent of the time. As divers, we understand that nature is not a separate from humanity. We are in, and part of, the natural world. Diving is inherently therapeutic because it restores this inherent, vital connection with nature.
Superpower – Personal Power and Scale
Engaging nature through diving reminds us that we can take constructive actions for a better future. We don’t worry about saving the world – we just choose to do what we can to save a small piece of it. By amplifying our individual power and choosing to make a difference, across the planet together the global dive community scales our individual power exponentially. Ocean Torchbearers are a growing force that will scale the power of one person exponentially across the planet. Collectively, individual actions taken by 1 billion Ocean Torchbearers escalates into massive positive ocean change. This means that no constructive personal action is insignificant; we are all empowered to make a difference by taking action. As a community, we have the power to set monumental and positive forces for restoring and protecting the ocean into motion, both locally and internationally. The PADI cultural diaspora is, by definition, a juggernaut – we are a force for good.
Superpower – Personal Inspiration
Diving inspires us to seek adventure, to explore and to steward ocean health. It is our love story, which we all have the choice to share. We dive because we love doing it – we love the underwater environment and we love that diving generously gives back more than it takes. These loves are genuine so they inspire us to share diving, to share our love for protecting the ocean and to share how it makes us better people.
Diving brings out the best in us. Its superpowers transform each of us, enabling us to do more and share more.
Sincerely,
Drew Richardson
President & CEO
