Natural Stock Keeping

Investing is unavoidably philosophical. It is challenging to build up evidence when there is so much noise. A choice between too short for the noise to wash out, and so long that the evidence is stale. A single decision, whether right or wrong, large or small, is almost irrelevant in the very long run. It is the process that matters. “Time in the market, rather than timing the market”. An individual career (15-40 years) barely lets proper compounding kick in. Real wealth is created across generations, within communities, through institution building. My philosophy has shifted towards that of my father-in-law’s approach to Natural Bee Keeping, and a friend working on re-Wilding in farming. Focusing on Endurance and Resilience. Letting the Bees, Nature and Businesses do the work. A single decision that ends things does matter, so the focus needs to be on Custodianship. Keep breathing. Keep moving. Keep creating. Sustainable Growth is the pumping heart that keeps the cycle of creation and reinvestment going.

Personal Journey (Nic)

Our lives are path dependent. It is easy to fit a story to them afterwards, but there is a lot of noise which we have no control over. I started Yoga in 2009, mostly because there was a Yoga place 400 metres down the road from me. There was also a Martial Arts place, but I happened to be single at the time, so the motives of my choice weren't completely pure. That choice had a massive impact on the direction of my life. 

When someone is in a bit of a rut, the prescription from Yoga starts basically. Are you exercising? Are you eating properly? Are you relaxing properly? Are you in control of your thoughts, or are they controlling you? Even more simply... are you breathing properly? When catching up with an old school friend Nic, we got onto the importance of breathing because of his 'path dependent' passion. His twist had led him to freediving...

Nic is back row fourth from right (1997 school pic)

Personal Journey

by Nic Crosskill

The ocean is the life force of earth and covers over 70% of the planet's surface, yet 95% of this realm remains unexplored, unseen and untouched by humans.

Having grown up on the east coast of South Africa, swimming and surfing in the warm Indian Ocean, I have always been fascinated with the ocean and have always had a burning desire to explore its depths. My journey into the ocean depths began about nine years ago, when I was introduced to the concept of breath hold diving by my then scuba diving instructor, who was trying to sell me a second hand speargun. Since this time my life has been a whirlwind of learning and adventure. Freediving has become a lifestyle which has me constantly looking at weather and ocean conditions and finding every excuse to spend time in the deep.

So what is freediving exactly?

According to Wikipedia, freediving is “a form of underwater diving that relies on divers' ability to hold their breath until resurfacing rather than on the use of a breathing apparatus such as scuba gear”. However, if you ask any true freediver, this definition barely touches on the true meaning of being freediver. Rather, a freediver will tell you that freediving equates to freedom and liberation, focusing only on the moment, while pushing your body to depths unimaginable to the average person. Freediving has become a lot more scientific in recent times, with an increased focus on freediving physiology. It is no longer a matter of simply holding your breath and swimming under water. Understanding how your body works underwater is one of the most fundamental aspects of freediving and is essential if one wants to avoid injuries or death. In addition, understanding why you get the urge to breathe while holding your breathe is essential to diving deeper, longer and safer. The simple understanding of these concepts allows one to push beyond their preconceived limits.

Every mammal (including humans) have a diving reflex known as the Mammalian Dive Reflex, which consists of a set of responses that are activated when our face is cooled (as it is when submerged in water) or when we hold our breath. The Mammalian Dive Reflex allows the body to manage and withstand much lower levels of oxygen. When the Mammalian Dive Reflex kicks in, a number of things happen to the human body, such as the slowing of the heart rate (up to 20 beats per minute for trained freedivers) and the narrowing of blood vessels in the limbs. The narrowing of blood vessels ensures that oxygenated blood is directed away from the limbs and moved to vital organs like the brain and heart.

When asking the question, “Why do you get the urge to breathe when holding your breath”, the answer seems obvious … because you are running out of oxygen! In fact, this is not correct!

Rather, it is the increasing concentration of carbon dioxide in your bloodstream that brings on the desire to breathe, and not, contrary to popular belief, the lack of oxygen available in your lungs. When holding your breath oxygen in the lungs is metabolized, which in turn increases the level of carbon dioxide in your bloodstream. The higher the level of carbon dioxide in your bloodstream, the stronger your urge to breath.

The urge to breathe manifests itself in a number of ways, such as swallowing, contractions through the diaphragm and burning sensations. The key to freediving and long breath holds is to train yourself to push through these sensations while continuing to hold your breath. As a freediver, you can use these sensations of discomfort as a warning that it is time to head calmly to the surface.

Having a clear understanding of the above is the key difference between a 1 minute breath hold and a 5 minute breath hold, a 5m dive and 30m dive, and blacking out under water or making it to the surface alive.

Since discovering freediving I have managed to dive to depths previously unimaginable to me and hold my breath for longer than I ever thought possible. I have discovered freedom in an unexplored and wild environment where the only limits are those set by me. Freediving is a personal journey which is different for everyone, where learning and limits can never end. 

Current standing world freediving records
Longest breath hold underwater (breathe up on pure oxygen) – 24 min 03 sec
Longest breath hold underwater (breathe up without pure oxygen) – 11 min 54 sec
Deepest dive without fins or weights – 102 meters
Deepest dive with weight – 253.20 meters

Namibia

In a light two seater plane, I saw thousands of flamingos take flight. Untouched by, and now protected by and from man, seeing Sandwich Bay is a spiritual experience. With the expansive deserts right along side the cold Atlantic, the Skeleton Coast redefines beauty. Curves. Contrasts. Light. A dance of hot and cold. I got to fly down those dunes on a piece of wood. Jump over them on a Quad bike. Swakopmund with its salt roads. The city of Windhoek. Dry heat. The San. Nama. Ovambo. Afrikaans. German. A shared complicated history with South Africa. Shared love of Biltong. A place apart.

Namibia

Edge of The Lake

Yesterday I went for a run along the edge of Lake Michigan. I was wearing dodgy camouflage print leggings a friend bought for me when I went on a Yoga course in the cold of the Austrian mountains. I was wearing white rugby shorts that are definitely long overdue replacement (I haven't played a rugby match since 2001). I was wearing long red socks as a way of connecting to friends all over the world (see Red Sock Friday). I looked silly. But it didn't matter.

The run was beautiful. Patches of melting snow shone under a blue sky. I could run on the edge of sheets of ice and get child like pleasure as they cracked. It always amazes me how in a city of so many people, there can be such stillness. The occasional runner came past. A cyclist every now and then. But otherwise I had quiet.

Sometimes thoughts get trapped. You may think for an hour, but the thought takes 30 seconds and then repeats itself 120 times. What I love about these long, quiet runs in nature is that the thoughts tend to work themselves out. The spin cycle stops. It calms. 

And when thoughts are calm, we can focus on the stuff that matters. We can give problems the time they deserve, but no more. Life is more than its problems.

Thank you Chicago you little beauty.

Unique Scars (Ariella)

I'm not a person who has a strong connection to 'things' but the few things I do have, I really love. This beautiful handcrafted board is one such item that has a special story and reminds me of a wonderful time of my life living in the Noordhoek valley. It is made from a tree which succumbed to the incredible fire which ravaged the South Peninsula earlier this year and which I experienced very closely (too close for comfort!) The black markings show where the intense heat caused the resin to boil inside the trunk. It's a simple yet thought provoking item which reminds me of the power of nature and that something beautiful always comes after the fire with its own unique scars and markings to tell the story.

Ariella Rosanna Caira

Sterling EQ Musician

Past Guest Post: Devastating Effects

Why I Love Our Garden (Anne Mayers)

Between her love of gardens and tea (made properly), Anne was probably always destined for England. While the rest of us were content with mugs (you get more), Anne would always have a wonderful little teapot sitting on her desk. The other certainty with Anne is that she will be wearing some red, and I will get a smile. Here she describes one of the great pleasures of her life... 

Anne and me/Ghandi in December 2012 (just after Movember)

Why I Love Our Garden 
by Anne Mayers

It is an every changing landscape, never the same from one day to the next. As the start of every season sweeps through our garden, there is always a mood of anticipation as we witness the transformation of the shrubs, trees, flowers and the grass. In Spring, Summer and part of the Autumn the greenhouse is brimming over with scrumptious vegetables such as cucumber, courgettes, peppers, tomatoes, herbs or aubergines. And in Winter it is a wonderful drying 'room' for the wood we need for our lovely Winter fires.

The grapevine clambering over our lovely wooden arch, is always a perfect spot for that special photo. The Apple trees, all four of them, provide an abundance of crops for my tasty apple and date chutney! Not to mention tasty fruit from the Plum and Cherry trees. My vases are filled with beautiful Roses, Irises, Peonies or Dahlias. We always plant an abundance of colourful petunias around all the shrubs and fruit trees.

Front Garden

What you put into your garden is what you will get out of it - we created our garden from scratch and now I can proudly report that we are reaping the rewards of the hard work (mostly David's of course) over the course of the last four years since we bought our house. It is always a sheer joy to walk about our front and back garden, of course more so when the garden has 'rolled' out of its Winter slumber and there is a frenzy of preparation to ready it for Spring, Summer and Autumn.

We never tire of the tranquillity our garden offers, especially the back garden which borders onto a small woodland and to observe how it evolves from one year to the next. Our bird feeders have attracted a variety of beautiful birds to our lovely garden, and our bird book has been helpful in identifying our daily visitors perched on the roof waiting for their next feed. Oh let's not forget the rabbits and squirrels (sometimes as many as five at the same time) competing with the birds for the nuts and the seeds on the ground. 

Back Garden

We feel truly blessed and privileged with our little spiritual corner in the semi-rural countryside of Send in Surrey.

What is natural?

I haven't spent much time on it, but Postrel's website www.dynamist.com looks pretty cool, at least from a design perspective. Will need to read more of her blog posts and see if they get me thinking as much as her book.

I think this thought comes partially from her book, but it has been something that has been floating round my head for a while. When we justify something by saying it is natural, what value does that hold? If an action is natural, does that make it moral?

Nature is constantly changing. I don't know enough about biological history, but I have always tried to picture what Wild Cows must have been like? I presume the modern descendants are nothing like their ancestors. Apparently most of the fruit we eat today is nothing like the wild fruits that used to grow before mankind began to farm.

Living in a house is not natural. Neither is wearing clothes. Or cooking with fire. If you define natural as anything without human intervention, then you start to struggle to find many parts of our daily lives that haven't in some way been changed by man.

I guess my point is that everything is natural in that everything comes from nature. It may have been changed and adapted, and in cases we may not like the consequences, but isn't it great that we have the ability and capacity to think about what effects we may have and steer them in the way we want to.

When a new alpha male Lion takes over a pride, he kills all the young of the Lionesses. The Lionesses protect their young, but if they are killed, they give up and mate with the new alpha male.

All very natural. Good thing we get to choose.