Why is this so addictive?

[Rick Murchison]

We all seek "wonder."
We all seek wonderful experiences that leave pleasant memories.
Under water there is constant wonder around every corner, in every crack and crevice... biological wonder, mystery, some answers; history, mystery, answers; geological wonder, mystery, answers... the wonders of the deep.
We all seek to try ourselves in some way, to reach for something that will raise us from the herd - scuba offers challenges that provide a lifetime of improvement, continuing education, technical expertise, skill & competence. It feels good to do something well, while at the same time always having room to improve.
We all seek to overcome our primal fears. Scuba has a limitless variety of ways to get on the "edge" of our personal envelopes, from the initial "breathing underwater" through handling various emergencies to caves and wrecks and depth and darkness and temperature and current and limited visibility and critter encounters...
In short, Scuba provides ways to fill our lives with things that help make us more than we were before the dive, every dive, and that is a good thing.
Rick

 

[Dive-aholic]

Hi, my name is O'Malley and...I'm a dive-aholic.

Hey!

I forgot to mention that yesterday I drove 3 hours one way just to spend a couple of hours in 5' of viz. There's not much to see down there anyway, but I did find a bridge! And at least the water was 85 deg! But the viz would've been better if it was colder. Okay, now I'm rambling.

 

[TSandM]

Rick, I don't think anybody is going to come up with a better answer than that!

 

[freediver]

The first time I swam underwater I felt an ancient memory or feeling of familiarity with it, like deja vu', I believe those of us who are addicted to underwater adventure are closely connected to a prehistoric instinct and are just doing what comes natural.

Hey, I've experienced this before! By the way, haven't you posted this already?

 

[Santa]

This is going to be a looooong thread, and all probabability points towards it being continually low on dialectics.

Which has me wondering:

Does this absence of dialectic resistance mean that we're arriving at an absolute here, some fabled inarguable constant?

Could it be that ultimately the answer to life, the universe and everything was never 42 as some would have us believe but in fact ... diving?

Might the ultimate question have been a simple

"Uhm ... why don't we lay off the metaphysics and like blow some bubbles, dude?"

Someone once described unaided human flight as the noble art of hurling oneself very forcibly towards the ground - and missing (due to some last minute distraction).

You can do that off a zodiac as well.


Still distracted

 

[mongoose]

I agree with a previous poster... "wonder" is just about the perfect word.

I remember the first time I saw rain from *below* the surface. I just sat and stared at it the entire safety stop. How many people get to see this, I thought... It was amazing to go from this calm, placid environment, breach the surface, and be in the middle of a rainstorm.

I went to the pool the other day with a brand-new diver, and it started to rain, and I'll be darned if he wasn't doing the same thing... staring at the surface...

--'Goose

 

[NauticalbutNice]

The worse thing about it is you can never explain to someone why you love diving so much. They just don't get it. And sometimes I don't even get it.

I mean: I spend my weekends and free time in a thick suit, underwater, looking at crabs and starfish and stuff.

Umm....

But for me it's more than that. It's almost a religious experience. The closest to peace of mind and absolute calmness that I will ever achieve. I cannot explain why I love it...but I do.

Nauticalbutnice :fruit:

 

[fishoutawater]

I guess for me it started way back when I lived near a lake, and I had just seen this old movie called "Creature From The Black Lagoon". Lost a lot of sleep on that movie.
I just knew he was down there and I had to go down into his world. I used to get this weird exhilaration type fear from diving down to the bottom and looking around. After a while, when I realized the Creature form the black lagoon didn't live in the lake, I felt very comfortable. Totally at ease in the water. I couldn't get enough. I even skipped school to skin dive in that lake.
There were other shows on at the time that fed this passion too. Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Sea Hunt, James Bond flics, even a comic book called Aquaman. Then there were the Tom Swift books...
Ahh, the good old days...

 

[Cold_H2O]

I have been asking myself that same question since 1998. I am no closer to finding the answer.
All I know is that when the water calls and I must go. Ancient pull, total peace, not sure. Don't really need to understand it.. I just need to be in the water.
I love the quietness of the dive. I love the freedom of being in the water. I love that my senses work differently when under water.
My name is Colleen and I am a dive addict.... but I don't want help breaking this addiciton.

 

[Peter Guy]

TSandM's husband checking in.

I'm afraid I've unleashed a monster that will grow uncontrollably -- I only hope that some of you can help me direct it!

We've been married for 17+ years and I'd had Zero success in getting her to contemplate diving until a couple of months ago (don't ask!).

In the space of two months she has gone from a "I'll NEVER get into cold water" to "I can't stand the thought of ending a dive even IF I'm shivering." Or, to put it another way, she has gone from wanting to spend all day at the barn (we both ride and raise horses) to "Oh well, I haven't ridden in two weeks [her first warm water/clear vis experience on Molokini] so Eis [one of her horses] won't mind another day off while we go diving."

And now I read on another thread she is "contemplating" a purchase of a cannister light and needs information on transporting NiMH batteries on planes!

A monster I say -- An uncontrollable monster has invaded my wife.

Please help -- Please -- what should I do? What can I do?

Or is this just God's way of telling me I really do need to get twin strobes and a housing for my dSLR?