The first time I met J was at Blue Ocean Film Festival in 2012. He was speaking at a dinner and presented a clear blue marble to a person who he felt positively influenced his love for water. He asked us all to pick up our blue marble and hold it to our heart, then our head, then peer through it with our eye. It looked like the sun glinting through the ocean on an offshore passage…on a calm day of course – the kind of day I can look at the glinting light and not get seasick. That is what went through my mind as I participated in his demonstration. It seemed silly – sharing blue marbles, talking about “our brains on water.”
A year later I learned more about what Blue Mind meant to J and immediately felt like he was understanding what I felt and couldn’t explain. I wanted to meet him right away. More importantly, I wanted him to be in One Simple Question because a major theme of our film is how the ocean influences us in a ways of the heart.
J agreed to meet Ben and I for an interview. He said that water influences people to surface their best self – the self that is calm, creative, introspective, thoughtful, and at peace. This I already knew. But what I didn’t know was that neuro-scientists have been working with J to quantify my qualitative understanding of the ocean’s influence! I love the scientific process and so, of course, I thought that was awesome! I read J’s book as soon as I could. And you should too.
Blue Mind is a must-read for anyone who feels infinite when they are near the ocean. Sailors feel this. Artists feel this. I know this.
Comments 6
I’ve been saying this since I was a child. I absolutely believe that the ocean provides mental (and physical) health benefits that cannot be ignored.
I do totally love you and Ben and what you are doing ….the love of ocean is so much an Archetype that brought me here to begin with…. it is truly our source and the sustainability for all humans. Much love and luck in all your endeavors. Happy for you guys and your new boat ..look forward to following you and maybe meeting on the sea someday. I have the picture I won to put on my new boat soon I hope .
Maybe I will get some blue marbles …hey hey
Mike
As an artist (and new sailor) who works in nautical themes, lives near the ocean and finds my chi there weekly, I can attest to this idea. I am completely mesmerized and inspired by the sea in a myriad of ways: for my work, for my temperament, for dealing with life’s stresses, for my happy place. It has been a very solid part of who I am for many years now and I’ve raised my children at the water’s edge for that exact reason.
My husband and I attended your lecture at the US Sailboat Show in Annapolis last year and we are now members of a wonderful Community Sailing Center in Norfolk, VA. We will be a the show again this upcoming Oct and are so excited to finally have a tangible investment in our dream. Thank You for always inspiring, mentoring and showcasing what a wonderful lifestyle sailing truly is.
How wonderful to hear this put into words! I will definitely search out this book. Thanks for the recommendation.
Boy! Your site is a kindred spirit. I have loved the “water” all my life. I was born up here in Michigan and sailed on the Lakes as a deckhand and AB and at sea for 5 years. I can smell saltwater with an on shore breeze. I still miss it. I came ashore when I married, and sailed a Cal 21 all over Lake Erie and Huron with the wife and two sons. Thanks for the memories.
Chuck M.
“It’s out there at sea that you are really yourself.” – Vito Dumas, from his book about his solo circumnavigation in the southern ocean in 1942.
RidestheWind