Your lungs will shrink to about the size of your fist. At depth, almost every aspect of the human physiology will change for the freediver. The heart rate slows as soon as the face enters the water, blood leaves the extremities, CO2 levels are increasing by the second and of course, the size of the...
It was 8:05am and the guy answered the phone with an air of frustration. They had just opened. I said I wanted to inquire if he could send out a spear for a speargun from Auckland to Great Barrier Island before the weekend. I needed a new spear for a speargun building project we are...
At university, one of the final projects was designing a regional aircraft. In aircraft design, there is one huge question that lies at the front end: “What’s it for?” What kind of aircraft do we want to build? For a regional aircraft in Australia, we have a certain group of runway lengths, and desired baggage...
“If one is to succeed in anything, the success must come gently, with a great deal of effort but with no stress or obsession.” ― Carlos Castaneda, Tales of Power In endurance sports, the races are by definition, long. Interestingly, it’s actually not about speed. At any one point in time, you’re really going pretty slow in...
When I was young I remember going head to head with my friend Timothy in a multiplication times-tables competition. We were going for the top spot in our class in a rapid fire, head to head race. We had to know anything up to “9 x 9” at the time I think. While basic arithmetic is...
“How you climb a mountain is more important than how you reach the top.” – Yvon Chouinard, Patagonia. In climbing, like in a lot of sports or physical pursuits, there are hobbyists, athletes, practitioners and artists. When the movement or sport is done fully, with full presence and embodiment, it is the work of an...
As I stand to write this, there’s an empty glass nearby. The water filter is in the kitchen, and my desk is in the office. The question is, who’s going to fill it? When they’re empty, vessels like glasses, buckets etc, are pure potential. There’s only upside. The void in them is temporary, on one...
When I order an espresso, I’ll judge. Perhaps I’ll “consider” for the first few moments, but then I’ll definitely judge the hell out of it. If it’s smooth, rich with no bitterness, it passes. If it’s bitter, cold, too long or just an average bean, it typically doesn’t pass. Now, when we humanise the situation,...
