Playing Hooky at Washed Ashore and the Marine Mammal Center

My creative self and I played hooky last week.  In the middle of the work week.  Gasp!  You'd think after ten plus years of being in business for myself - I'd have done this before - but no, I haven't - not until now.  But the promise of a 75 degree day along the coast - coupled with my desire to see an art exhibit at the The Marine Mammal Center before the exhibit closed a few days later - beckoned - and I answered that call by packing up my inhibitions, my camera, and heading up North.

As I drove up the I 280, still closer to home than my destination - I felt the strong pull of the office.  What if a client calls or emails?  What if I need something from the office to respond?  Should I really be doing this in the middle of the week?  Worry...worry.  Despite assurances to myself that this is what smart phones are for - and reasoning it's only a few hours, not the whole day - it still felt wrong.  Uncomfortable.  

But the further I got from the office, and the closer to my destination - the more I began to feel the pull of what lay ahead.  Like a magnet - I started feeling the draw and excitement of my destination.  Excitement and anticipation about seeing something new, being outside, exploring creatively and taking pictures, began to replace my doubts and concerns.  (While some of you reading this might think - what's the big deal? I do this all the time.  Well then, that's great for you!  For me though, this kind of "permission" is new, and a baby step forward on the path to living a fully invested life.  Integrating my creative and coaching selves - trusting that all of those dots will connect.)  

The "Washed Ashore:  Plastics, Sea Life and Art exhibit I wanted to see is sponsored by The Artula Institute  - "a non profit dedicated to providing opportunities to express and teach environmental issues through the arts".  Led by it's artistic director, Angela Haseltine Pozzi, the exhibit consists of eighteen (not all of them were at the MMC this day) large scale ocean objects made from debris collected from the ocean.  Some of the art objects are animals or fish, like Henry the fish above, others represent other aspects of the ocean - like the Pacific Plastic Patch - and what it must be like for creatures to "swim" through that mess.  

The objects are large - to represent how much garbage is out there in our oceans - and the negative impact of this on our environment.  As conscious as I'd like to think my husband and I are:  using reusable bags for grocery and other shopping; klean kanteens for filtered tap water; recycling; composting; and bringing our own containers for leftovers when dining out; in the face of this exhibit - it doesn't feel like it's enough.

While I highly recommend seeing this exhibit for yourself, or at least visiting the Washed Ashore  website to learn more, you can see from these pictures what ends up in the ocean.  Plastic bottles of all types (water, shampoo, oil...), and lots of them.  Bottle caps, tooth brushes, flip flops, kid's toys, fish nets, beer bottles, wine bottles, hard liquor bottles and lots of different car and boat parts too. 

  

After a while of taking it all in - it gets to you.  How can we "intelligent" beings allow this to happen?  How can we trash our own home - as if it doesn't matter?  It does.  It will.  I shudder to think of the trash making it's way over to our coast from the Japan Tsunami. I know that mother nature is resilient - but in the face of an ever growing human population - she needs our help.  We need to do our part.  

If I had a picture of a soap box - I'd insert it here.  This will have to do.

If you live in the Bay Area, and haven't checked it out yet, the Marine Mammal Center is a terrific place.  I came a visitor, and left a member.  They do all they can to help injured and ill marine life and to educate.  The facility is impressive.  I believe they went through a major renovation in 2009 - solar panels and all.  While a visit is free, and donations welcomed, for an annual membership of $25, you can become a part of this organization.  If low on cash but flush with time, you can join their volunteer base too.

This little guy or gal wasn't looking so good - I hope they are doing O.K. 

 

Done with the exhibit, it was time to go back to work.  But the Marine Mammal Center happens to be around the corner from Rodeo Beach, a beach that I used to take my buddy Rob's dogs too.  A place I love and hadn't been to in quite some time.  It would be a crime to be so close not to dip a toe in the water, no?  Heck - I was already gone two hours, what would another 30 minutes "cost" me?  So what if I'm here without any dogs?  It didn't take much more convincing than that.

This little gal was having a super time pushing an environmentally friendly rock around the beach.....into the surf....back out again...enjoying the simple pleasures of life.

The cost of making this short pit stop before heading back to the office to answer the day's calls and emails?

Priceless.

As was the reminder that we can do better.  One way I plan to do this is to stop using the grocery store's plastic bags when buying in bulk (grains, nuts, oatmeal, etc.)  Instead, I'll bring our own reusable containers which the store can weigh and mark accordingly to avoid paying the extra cost of their weight at the point of sale.

Baby Steps.