Be a Dolphin

On the heels of my previous post detailing my dislike of camels, I spent today mesmerized by the dolphins that swam alongside our boat in the Gulf of Oman.

Yesterday afternoon we crossed the UAE border into Oman, and spent today in Khasab sailing on a traditional Dhow boat through the Musandam Fjords. And by sailing, I mean my father fished shirtless having displaced the captain at the back of the boat, while I took selfies and napped in the sun.

The dreamy orange tinted rock formations complemented the cloudless blue skies, and the bright blue sea, which in places shined in neon green where there was an abundance of algae.

Yikes that was a really annoying sentence- so back to dolphins we go.

What I like about dolphins (and bear with me here I’m only a glass of wine in and already philosophizing) is their attitude.

In any country where I have ran into dolphins, I’ve more often than not seen them come right up to boats, playing and swimming along.

Even the wild ones.

I think that we could all be a little more like dolphins.

(More intelligent, for one, since people can be idiots and dolphins are way smart. But that’s not what I’m getting at here.)

I think people need to be more like dolphins in that we need to be more willing to play, and to be less afraid of the big boats, approaching them with curiosity and not fear.

Dear friends, that is what we- in literature– call a metaphor.

Feel free to adapt it to whatever your big boat is. Maybe your big boat is traveling outside of the country, maybe it’s social anxiety.

Or maybe, you’re actually really afraid of big boats in which case you’re welcome to take this literally.

Imagine a world where we approach the things that are objectively frightening, with playfulness and curiosity instead.

How else do you think I end up at a breakfast with Warren Buffett’s former private pilot, or sipping fine champagne and eating lobster poutine with an oil tycoon?

(Y’all, it’s been a long few days, ask me about it over a glass of wine sometime.)

Point is: the cool shit happens when you’re a dolphin.

Or you get hit by the big boat and your little dolphin self gets violently torn to shreds. But how boring would life be if we let that hold us back.

I was having dinner with my father the other night and after I told him my plans to move to Dubai, he gave a great piece of advice.

“If you feel. Go.”

It was so simple, incisive and so profound.

Granted, was that because he was three glasses of wine in and English is not his first language? Perhaps. But, that doesn’t matter.

If deep down in your soul you feel you need to go do something, go do it.

Be the dolphin, and swim towards the big scary boat.

Who knows, it might just be fun.