The sea is full of secrets. Beneath the surface, there are so many mysteries; while this uncertainty is scary, it’s also full of promise.
I am at a point of transition in my life: I recently graduated from a Masters program, I’m dipping my toes into nonprofit waters, and searching for the right career path. In short, it’s turmoil. There is a lot to be unsure about.
As the newest W2O board member, I’ve been struck by the refusal of W2O members to be bogged down in futility. Perhaps no single one of us can solve all the problems our world and ocean face, but every small action makes a difference. Working together makes those actions more impactful. We may be unsure, but that doesn’t mean there is no reason to have hope. The light of hope is central to our spring event.
W2O’s Spring 2017 event, The Heart of Hope: A Quest to Save Our Seas with author and ocean advocate Liz Cunningham, aims to inspire local communities to find their role within the global initiative to safeguard our ocean. Liz Cunningham will share her story of finding true hope amidst dire environmental crises. Leading up to and in conjunction with this event, W2O draws inspiration from the Ocean Optimism movement; in our social media, we will be using #OceanOptimism to build our sense of community, hope, and inspiration around the ocean. We hope to hear from all of you about what inspires you to work for our ocean, and what continues to give you hope for success.
Ocean Optimism is a marine conservation movement that highlights areas of success. The movement aims to facilitate connection and collaboration in order to create a new narrative of hope in marine conservation. In 2014, renowned scientists and environmental champions Nancy Knowlton, Heather Koldeway, Cynthia Vernon and Elin Kelsey launched #OceanOptimism to encourage the sharing of success stories and positive ocean news. This global movement has spread to over 60 million social media users in an incredible outpouring of marine support.
My own #OceanOptimism is bound up in curiosity. The seemingly boundless ocean waters hide fascinating secrets. It’s impossible for me to watch plunging Gannets, Sandpipers flitting about the shoreline, or schools of fish swarming coral reefs without getting tongue-tied with questions. For every answer I’ve found, there are (at least) 10 more questions. My hope for our ocean stems from how much there is always left to learn.
Delving deeper into my ocean curiosity always grows my #OceanOptimism. We want to know what grows yours. Use my example as a guide; think about what inspires you to work for the ocean; tell us your unique story of what links you to our blue planet.
To contribute to our social media campaign, contact W2O’s Social Media Manager Emily Conklin at [email protected] Follow @W2Oorg on Twitter and @womenworkingforoceans on Instagram and be sure to use #OceanOptimism in your own posts.
Blog contributor and W2O Social Media Manager Emily Conklin holds a BA in Biology from Wheaton College, and a Masters of Science in Marine Biology from Northeastern University.
