Explore the Darkness

Ada satu pertanyaan yang selalu terlontar kalau saya cerita saya diving malam malam atau night dive. "Serem kan?" "Ngga takut?" pasti ditanyakan berulang kali oleh yang belum pernah mencobanya.

Saya menganalogikan night dive sebagai saat mencoba sesuatu yang benar benar baru di hidup ini. Bayangkan anda akan memasuki sesuatu yang anda tidak tahu, tidak terbayang, gelap, di tempat yang luas, pokoknya dianggap menyeramkan. Mencoba night dive seperti mencoba melakukan sesuatu yang berbeda di hidup anda, misalkan keluar dari pekerjaan dan mencoba pekerjaan lain.

Banyak orang yang ragu karena merasa apa yang di depan, jika diambil maka mereka belum tahu apa yang ada, masih gelap. Tapi, bukannya hidup itu seperti itu ya? we will never know what happen in the future, itu sudah rumus mati sebagaimanapun kita jungkir balik merencanakan masa depan.

Night dive, layaknya mencoba sesuatu yang baru, juga tidak bisa dilakukan sembarangan. Bayangkan anda main nyebur aja ke laut sudah pakai alat alat diving, tapi tanpa bawa senter, itu namanya cari perkara. Begitu pula jika misalnya anda resign dari kerjaan, tapi tanpa "senjata" atau persiapan apa yang akan dilakukan.

Sebelum night dive kita pasti rencanakan penyelaman, persiapkan senter dan senter cadangan kalau senter pertama mati, rencanakan buddy kita, rencanakan sebaik mungkin sebelum menceburkan diri ke "kegelapan."

Kalau sudah punya persiapan, yang gelap jadi tidak tampak segelap itu. Kita bisa melihat, memang sebatas apa yang senter itu dapat terangi. Sama halnya dengan hidup, saat mencoba hal yang baru, saat sudah ada persiapan kita bisa melihat hal yang akan kita lakukan dan dapatkan dalam waktu dekat, namun ada "area gelap," yaitu kejutan kejutan dari hidup yang kita tidak akan pernah tahu hingga saatnya tiba.

Lalu, apakah menceburkan diri di malam hari ke kedalaman laut itu sepadan dengan hasilnya? menurut saya, Yes, totally! Saat night dive saya bisa melihat hal hal unik yang tidak saya temui di siang hari, sensasinya berbeda. Saat mencoba hal barupun anda akan menemukan hal hal yang anda selama ini tidak tahu, karena tersembunyi di balik dinding ketakukan yang anda buat sendiri.

Kalau sudah berani mengeksplorasi hidup di "siang hari" mungkin tidak ada salahnya mencoba masuk ke area gelap yang biasanya anda takuti, bukan area gelap dalam hal negatif ya, namun mencoba sesuatu yang baru yang selama ini kita lokasikan di balik dinding karena kita takut mencobanya. Night dive juga tidak bisa selamanya kok, saya ingat setelah night dive saya keluar dari permukaan laut, menatap bulan purnama yang membuat awan di sekelilingnya terlihat- sumpah, indah banget!

Dunia ini, atas, bawah, daratan, lautan, siang dan malam, selalu indah, tergantung dari sisi mana anda menatapnya.

@marischkaprue - not a nocturnal person but willing to explore the darkness.

As published on Divemag Indonesia Vol. 3 No. 036, March 2013.

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Explore The Darkness

One question always came out when I share stories about diving at night to those haven't try it yet: "It's scary, isn't it?" "You're not afraid?"

I think doing night dive is like doing something really new in your life. Imagine you are going to enter something you do not know at all, something you can't imagine and you would consider creepy. Maybe doing night dive for the first time would be like trying to do something different in your life, for example resign from your current job and try another one which is out of your imagination.
  
Many people hesitate to do something different, hesitate to take what's in front of them just because they cannot see it yet. But isn't life always like that? We'll never know what's gonna happen in the future, it's an ultimate formula however hard we try to plan our future.

Just like doing something new, you can't do a night dive without any preparation. Imagine yourself jumping into the dark water without bringing any dive torch. I'll call that a suicide attempt. Same thing goes when you resigned without any preparation of what you'll do in the future.

Before night dive we always plan our dive, diving gears, dive torch, backups, plan our buddy system and everything as well as possible before jumping into the "darkness"

If you already prepared, what may seems dark isn't so dark anymore. We can see even though it might be limited to what the flashlight range. Same with our life, when we try something new, we can see what will we do in the near future but there are always dark side area which we will never knew before we got in, before the time comes.

Then, is jumping and getting yourself into the darkness of the ocean worth the efforts and risks? In my opinion, it would be Yes, Totally! During night dive I can see unique things and creature I don't see during the day, it's a different sensation and atmosphere. When trying something new, you'll also find new different things you didn't find before, things you don't know at all because it's hidden behind your own wall of fears that you created yourself.

If you already have the courage to explore life in the daylight, it won't do many harms to try getting into the dark area which you probably scared this whole time. Its not doing something dark in a negative ways, its trying something new which we always put behind the wall just because we are afraid. And anyway, you can't do night dive forever. One time you'll have to pull yourself from the darkness. 

I remember after night dive, I got out of the water, staring at the full moon which makes all the clouds surround it so vivid. It's an extreme beauty.

This world, above, below, land, sea, day and night, are always beautiful. Depend on which side you look at it.

@marischkaprue - not a nocturnal person but willing to explore the darkness.