Enjoying Solo Diving
The possible impression that solo divers are unsociable is quite wrong. Most solo divers are quite gregarious and very much want to share their enjoyment of diving with others – they just want to do it when they get to the surface. The solitude they want to enjoy is during the dive. Solo divers take pleasure in this solitude – the emotive rewards in solo diving are akin to those of someone walking alone across some beautiful mountain scenery and enjoying the thoughts that such isolation and reflection provokes. There is also an enjoyment in the feeling of self-sufficiency for this style of diving, that one is not dependent on others, but is relying solely on ones own skills and capabilities. Finally, there is the sense of freedom, of not being impeded by the need to look after anyone but oneself and therefore being able to achieve ones own goal in the dive without compromising.
There are also divers who enjoy specific underwater activities but are unable to find anyone who shares the specific interest sufficiently to dive with them regularly, and where the activity is incompatible with a less than dedicated buddy. Falling back on Option #1 - don't dive is not acceptable, as the diver is then almost permanently prevented from pursuing the interest. Diving with buddies who get bored or tired quickly also does not lead to enhanced enjoyment for either party. In short, when the underwater activity is of interest only to oneself, solo is the only option.
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Famous quotes containing the words enjoying, solo and/or diving:
“I may add that I am enjoying existence as much as ever, and regret nothing.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“All mothers need instruction, nurturing, and an understanding mentor after the birth of a baby, but in this age of fast foods, fast tracks, and fast lanes, it doesn’t always happen. While we live in a society that provides recognition for just about every life event—from baptisms to bar mitzvahs, from wedding vows to funeral rites—the entry into parenting seems to be a solo flight, with nothing and no one to mark formally the new mom’s entry into motherhood.”
—Sally Placksin (20th century)
“A worm is as good a traveler as a grasshopper or a cricket, and a much wiser settler. With all their activity these do not hop away from drought nor forward to summer. We do not avoid evil by fleeing before it, but by rising above or diving below its plane; as the worm escapes drought and frost by boring a few inches deeper.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)