Diving in Lake Simcoe
This is what Im looking forward to later today. Given that its the end of October, Im hoping that the weather holds up (hopefully it doesn't rain) and that its not too cold...
To provide some context, Monika and I are working towards getting our SSI Open Water Scuba Diving certification, and this weekend, we're doing our mandatory open water dives out in Lake Simcoe, our last step towards becoming fully licensed to scuba dive.
Although I am keenly interested in the social innovation process and how transformative social change happens, when it comes to the environment, I do care, but I would not say that I am absolutely passionate it... until now that is. I joke that after having spent some time in British Columbia visiting my family this summer, I may have turned into an avid environmentalist overnight. When you're out in BC, you can't help but become an advocate for the environment. Everywhere you turn, you are surrounded by mountains, trees, and lakes, absolutely breathtaking.
My friend Kristina Lugo, had a brilliant guest post over at Justice for All by Akhila Kolisetty a couple of weeks ago, and she has some great insight on how to get people to care about a social issue, or any social issue for that matter:
"The truth is, what I’m passionate about may not be exactly what you are passionate about. In fact, you may never be passionate about the issues in which I am. And it’s taken awhile, but I think that’s ok. I’ve experienced the difficulty in getting people to care about any sort of social issue, so how much more the social issues that I’m passionate about? This does not mean I’ll stop advocating for the 1.1 billion citizens of the Earth that lack clean water (I will engage in that conversation given the most miniscule opportunity), but I’ve moved from over-zealously trying to convince, to trying to inspire."
And on that note, with a sudden interest in diving and given some of the photos below, I now have much more of an interest in preserving not only our environment on land, but in the water as well. A little self-serving perhaps, but in the end, I believe to really get people to care or even be inspired to take on an issue, it really needs to be brought down to the personal level.
(above diving photos courtesy of Jobelle Nepomuceno, taken in the Philippines)
Posted on Saturday, Oct 31, 2009
