Recorded in 2021 I’m posting this Episode with Dr Wallace J Nichols today to honour his sudden passing this week.
The most humble human who gave so much to widening our collective understanding of the human entanglement and interdependence with the waters of this Earth.
His book Blue Mind is a must read and rightly influenced so many to see beyond water just as a resource to be protected but a sacred flow of life itself, so entangled with human life and health and our emotional regulation and wellbeing.
I spent a little bit of time with ‘J’ in California in 2018 and hosted him on the podcast in 2021 as we were emerging from the pandemic and he was coming to terms with the loss of his family home from wild fires.
He spoke a lot then about the need for water connection and blue mind in these times of increasing rage, stress, violence and divisiveness.
We had planned to record another conversation exploring loss, trauma, losing what we love and healing with the Earth but we never managed it.
He had those very rare qualities of deep intelligence and wisdom, empathy for all life, the capacity to invite curiosity and inquiry from people with humility and without the need to shout loudly or divide.
He always spoke so beautifully of his family too - we send them love for these most challenging times of loss.
He would always hand out blue marbles, and say -
‘if we zoom out from our planet Earth a million miles - all you can see is a little blue marble floating in space - a planet made of water. Keep that marble in your pocket to remember this miracle’
He would encourage you to go and find your water, a river, stream, lake, pond or the ocean if you’re lucky.
Be near it, on it, in it - cultivate your blue mind.
Water is medicine - he said.
In these time more than ever.
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“Really the best way to understand blue mind is to start with what I call, red mind, and that is our new normal, we’re stressed, we’re anxious, we’re falling behind in many aspects of our lives. We’re distracted. We’ve got this technology everywhere we look. I’ve got technology in my face and in my ears, and that’s our new normal. We dive into a melee of input of sensory overload. And it takes it’s toll on us. Red mind is very useful, it’s the reason why we have that mind state because it’s powerfully useful, it’s where we get things done, it’s where we drive for advancements, it’s where we compete. But if you stay in red mind too long, you will end up in grey mind, which is burnout, and breakdown and disconnect.”
Dr Wallace. J Nichols
Dr Wallace. J Nichols is a renowned marine-biologist, wild water advocate and author of the bestselling book - Blue Mind: How Water Makes You Happier, More Connected and Better at What You Do.
His experiences as a field research scientist, government consultant, teacher, mentor, public speaker, parent, founder and director of businesses and nonprofit organisations, all support his quest to build a stronger and more diverse global blue movement.
We discuss:
- Intersection of the personal and professional
- Shades of mind. Red, grey and blue
- Water, a conversation enhancer
- Humans as aquatic creatures
- Water as therapy and transformation
- What’s your water story?
- Access to water in times of ‘progress’
- Blue mind intersecting with sustainability
- Activating our blue mind
LINKS
- The blue marble Links:
Play out track:
CJ Mirra - Everglade Parade - Original Surf Soundtracks Vol 1
Dr Wallace J. Nichols - Blue Mind