All Things Are One

After my father died I felt completely lost and alone. I was very young at the time and didn't understand what had happened. I just knew my dad was gone and wasn't coming back. That was my experience on dry land at least. Everything changed when I was at the beach or in the ocean.

Shortly after his death, my father was cremated and we spread part of his ashes in the ocean at the La Jolla Cove. The Cove was the place where most of my memories of my dad took place. It was also where I learned how to swim. Going to the Cove had always been a favorite pastime of mine. But after we spread my father's ashes my visits to the beach and ocean were different. They became sacred experience for me. In Ashes in the Ocean I wrote, " From that moment on [after spreading his ashes], I saw my father and the ocean as one. The idea of loving the ocean as if it were family took on a whole new meaning. It was no longer just a concept to me; it was real. At the beach or in the ocean, I knew my dad was right there with me. I saw him in the sand, the water, the seaweed, in the dolphins, fish, and seals swimming by; he was there in every aspect of that wild world."

It wasn't long before I felt this connection while visiting other beaches in and around La Jolla. As I got older, that feeling of connection with my father extended to all the beaches and oceans (and bodies of water) I had the opportunity to travel to. Eventually, I was able to see him in all aspects of the natural world: in the clouds, the grass, and the trees.

My relationship with nature was deeply inspired by my memories of my dad and of spreading his ashes in the ocean. This relationship is what has inspired me to write The Adventures of Enu and the work I do with Nature Unplugged. It also serves as a wonderful reminder to me that everything is connected, and all things are one. 

Cover Illustration by Blaze Syka from The Adventures of Enu