I had the opportunity yesterday to get in a nice paddle on my racing board, and the water was like glass. It was so beautiful and peaceful and perfect – so of course I thought “I have to get a picture of this”. If you don’t post about it – did it actually happen?
So halfway through my paddle I set my phone on a dock and got some quick shots. Then as I paddled a little further into the bay, I thought that the sky looked so perfect that I wanted to take another picture. So I pulled my board up alongside another dock and as I was attempting to get my phone out of my vest, the headphone wire got caught up in my paddle and I basically sling-shot my phone into the cold dark water.
Had this been Florida, I would have dove right in to retrieve the phone and filed an Apple Care claim and it would have been a minor setback in my otherwise amazing paddle session. However, up here in NJ in January, the water is dark and cold. I tried to use my paddle to try and scoop it up off the bottom, but not being able to see anything and not being in scuba gear made this a fruitless endeavor. I kept thinking ‘you got too greedy with trying to get a picture to share’ and ‘I can’t believe I didn’t just bring the GoPro for pictures’.
Luckily my mindfulness practice was able to zap me into the present. I didn’t get upset about the phone. I put myself back in the moment to enjoy the 2.5 mile paddle I had back to the beach. This is what I should have been doing the entire time. Why did I feel the need to take pictures instead of staying in the moment and just paddling? It’s something I’m hoping to work on more – mindful paddling. That’s not to say that photo shoots while I’m out there with my fellow mermaids and my family are never happening – those are some of the memories I treasure the most and I’m grateful that I have photos to remember them by. But, I’m hoping to have some paddle sessions that are just for me and that I am better able to live for the moment.
Float On, ❤ Carly
Jersey Shore Mermaids 