When is being positive not positive?
As a scuba diver and one who tries to see the world from a high frequency, I always thought that having a scuba shop named “Positively Buoyant” would be fun. However, besides learning the first rule of diving that you never hold your breath and the second rule that you always dive with a buddy, you quickly learn that being positively buoyant is not usually preferable.
When a diver starts a dive, they start with weight on them in order to be able to descend. Wet suits have pockets of air in them. Our lungs have air in them. The defacto set up of the human body is to float. (Don’t ask me if I can prove that scientifically, I am just saying that most people would not be able to descend and stay at depth without weights to allow them to overcome the air in their gear.)
Once the diver is at the depth they want to dive, they switch modes to wanting to be neutrally buoyant. We don’t want to drag ourselves or our gear on the sea floor. This can damage the coral and it brings up sand or other sea floor particulates which obscures visibility. At depth, a diver might put a little bit of air into their buoyancy control device (BCD) in order to stop descent and to level out. Being neutrally buoyant is more efficient for consumption of air, as well, because you don’t want to get into the cycle of letting out air of the BCD to stay down and then putting in air to keep off the bottom.
Even when it is time to end the dive, you don’t want to be positively buoyant. Yes, you want to ascend, but you want to ascend in a nice slow fashion not popping up too quickly. It is dangerous to ascend too quickly. So, even when it is time to get out of the water, being positively buoyant is not recommended.
I am sure this is why no dive shop ever, has been called “Positively Buoyant.”
Where are there other times where being positive might not be recommended?
I recently tested positive for Covid 19. (I know, it is 2024, but I am a late bloomer!) As symptoms go, I had such mild symptoms that I tested twice because I was surprised by the positive result. Also, the people I would have been exposed with did not have any signs or symptoms of covid. Because of the delay in understanding I had covid, I exposed my husband who did subsequently also test positive.
Trying to make lemonade out of lemons, I realized for me, that having a reason to relook at my third dimensional schedule was actually a benefit. I was able to not feel guilty about rearranging a driving trip which I had on my calendar and to not feel guilty about napping and taking it easy. I don’t normally feel guilty about napping, meditating or taking it easy, but this felt like a hall pass that I otherwise would not have had.
Just before sitting down to write this blog entry, my husband and I finished an almost 3 mile walk with our dog around a nearby lake on this beautiful autumn afternoon. Otherwise, I would have been half way to Salina, Kansas. I have postponed the trip to Kansas until the end of Oct where I am sure I will have a great time with my parents. But just for today, I feel like Ferris Bueller and am getting to enjoy a beautiful day off in Colorado.
It might be interesting to ask your soul if there are sometimes when you need to throw the schedule out the window, allow yourself to relax without self-judgment. Are there times when up is down and down is up? Or when positive is negative and neutral is positive? Without the need to contract covid, or a cold or any physical impediment, is it time to dialogue with your soul about more free time to enjoy your surroundings and circumstances? What is going to make you positively buoyant?
Gratitude to Kim Donghwan with pixabay.com for the above image.