It's a funny thing to breathe underwater. Despite the air tank, the neoprene, the certification and the safety procedures, diving gives me the giddy sensation of going somewhere I am absolutely not meant to be. It feels like cheating gravity, evolution and the atmosphere all at the same time. And so it was in Dubrovnik, with Alex the Croatian dive instructor and the big blue Adriatic. Tank, flippers, suits, weights, gloves... It's heavy and awkward to move around with all that equipment on land. It's actually so heavy I have to give in, be "the girl" and let myself be helped the tank and weight belt. This is probably the hardest part for me to swallow.
But I am involuntarily, unnaturally graceful beneath the surface, surrounded by a constant stream of bubbles. Scuba is the opposite of most sports I have ever tried. To be good, you have to breathe slower, move less, try less and push yourself not to push it. Somehow that is still exhausting.
When you are good enough at scuba to remember to forget about everything, then you can look around. This time, I was almost there. We saw an eel and sandy-colored creature that looked like one of the rocks. I floated as still as I could to watch bright little fish flutter away. Alex picked up an octopus and I stroked it with my neoprene-clad fingers until it shot out a cloud of black ink. I ran my hand through that too.
I would like to talk to an astronaut who has also been a scuba diver and ask if zero gravity feels a little bit like scuba... without the bubbles, or the fish. I am not smart enough to join NASA at all, but weightlessness underwater could teach me something. Maybe trying less is something I should do, well, more.
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