Body Armor

I finally watched “My Octopus Teacher” and I walked away from it with tears in my eyes and lessons learned. I won’t tell the whole story in case you haven’t seen it. It is indeed worth your time. The artist–Craig Foster–is an excellent narrator and an even better diver and observer of the ocean beneath–particularly this individual octopus. He comes to the project with depression and burnt out from filming and life. I can relate to that. It took him ten years (& octopuses do not live long) to create this documentary.

Frustration and fear concerning my recent illness has grown in me. Its cause’s ability to hide in my body in the way underwater creatures hide have made things difficult. I wouldn’t call it all out depression, but I do know it has the texture of it. Foster goes beneath the surface of the water in the kelp forest to see better. He wants to find a purpose for living. There he begins his love affair with the octopus and her complicated ways. During the film we learn and watch how cunning and how creative she is.

The kelp forest is beautiful, but not friendly. Each animal preys upon another and is the victim of another’s pursuit. The octopus’s nemesis is the pajama shark. One of the most terrifying moments in the film is when the octopus is being pursued by a pajama shark. The first time it loses a leg which it regenerates. The next time the octopus descends to the bottom of the ocean and scoops up 100 plus shells to cover all its liquified body. The shark finds it but it can’t get to the soft body of the animal. The octopus then leaps onto the shark’s back, riding it on a wild chase. The shark smells the octopus, but has no idea where it is. Eventually the octopus propels its way off the shark unnoticed.

The octopus protects it body with hard shells. Have you ever put armor on to fight some of your battles? I certainly have. The octopus does more than just hide. It leaps onto its enemies’ back and rides it. It can not destroy its enemy, but it can fool and trick it. As for the film-maker, I am reminded of another lover of nature–Mary Oliver–in her poem “Wild Geese.” To paraphrase her: “we only have to let the soft animal of our body love what it loves.” Foster through his relationship to the octopus learned to do that–observe, love, and find purpose in living. I think I’m slowly relearning this as well.