Sync

A little inspiration.

Loved this video clip...made me cry happy tears. In awe by Derek's heart to keep going. Inspired by his father to walk by his side. Makes me ask myself three questions.

1. What am I so passionate about that I HAVE to keep going no matter how hard it may be or feel? 2. Who's by my side? 3. Who am I walking next to cheering on?

I'd love to ask you the same questions. If you feel inspired please share by commenting below. Have a beautiful Thursday....smiles, gia

Love leads the way...

photo via + photo via Eeeeek! I'm so excited Tobin + I are off to meet our new little addition to our family. We actually get to meet him tomorrow...but the adventure starts today. 

Here he is! Meet Blaze! The little rescue dog from Kansas...there's no place like home. :) More from this story to come...it's a good one! Isn't he cute? Smiles, gia

Life. Loss. Love.

Last night one of the biggest loves of my life Mr.Timber boy passed away. This picture was taken on Sunday while we were out on a family walk by the ocean. :) Words can't express how much I love him & how much love he shared with me...Thank you for sharing your life with me Timber boy...I love you xo, gia 

Luv of my life.

I wanted to let all of you know that I've been a little distant this past week because my puppy...Mr.Timber boy is really sick. We've had a rough week and I've been spending as much time as possible lovin' and snuggling with him. Send any love & peace wishes his way... Have a beautiful weekend. :) Much Love + gratitude, gia

a woman + a moment

photo via Anita here with the Massai, globe-trots for product ideas.

I was recently asked to write an admiration letter to someone that has made a difference in my life (alive or dead). This exercise reminded me of something I'd written a few years ago to one of my life's "guru's" Anita Roddick.  I decided instead of writing a letter I'd try to piece together the random thoughts from my journal with a new skill that I'm learning...how to make video clips & movies.

Thank you Anita... from Gia Duke on Vimeo.

The words shared in this clip were what I felt on the day that I found out Anita died. At the time I was in Zambia just 3 weeks after I saw her in person and spoke to her about my upcoing trip to Africa. So here it is...my first imovie video. 

So many emotions and thoughts came up for me during this process and I didn't have access to all of my photos... so I forsee another version of this video coming in the near future. :) This will also be the first of many posts to come that will highlight people in my life that make a difference & my once in a lifetime trip to Africa.

So let me ask you this...is there someone you'd like to thank? Someone that has made a difference in your life that you'd like to tell? I encourage you to take a few minutes in the next few days to write a little letter, create a video or share a few words with someone that matters to you...have fun & thank you for taking your time to share this special moment with me. 

Smiles & Hugs, gia

Saving Valentina.

 

A friend of mine just shared this amazing & moving video with me and I knew I HAD to pass it along to all of you! I've always loved whales and have been fascinated by their size, beauty, grace and intuition. In this video we have the chance to witness a miracle. This group of whale advocates from The Great Whale Conservancy came upon a trapped humpback whale who was wrapped so tight in nylon fishing nets that she was drowning. The courageous crew worked hard to set her free. That's pretty incredible but what's even more amazing is what she did after...I think it was her way to say thank you to the people who saved her life.  Enjoy....I promise it's worth the 8 minutes. Smiles, gia

P.S. To find out more about the great work that Michael Fishbach and his staff do please visit their website here.

Holding Hands.

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So many different ways... So many different reasons...  Much love & smiles, gia

The Power of words.

We choose. Our words. What we say. How we express ourselves. What story we tell.

What's YOUR message you want to share with the world? With your friends, your family, your boss, your clients? What are YOU really trying to say? What do YOU really want people to hear?

I ask myself this often as I play with words while working on creating meaningful content typically around raising funds for a cause. And one thing for me that I've learned is when I speak from a genuine place & in an authentic voice (from my heart) that's when my words have the most impact and value to others. 

Such a beautiful and true message presented in an inspiring and touching way in this short video clip. I want to encourage you to take the 1:48 seconds to check it out. Then leave a comment and let me know what you FEEL/THINK...enjoy!

P.S. When I watched this the first time I was left speechless. (which is hard to do:))  

P.P.S. I've viewed this a few times now and I still get the chills & tear up at the end...not because it's sad but because the message is so powerful. 

 

Have a fantastic Friday! Smiles, gia

1 trapped turtle + my bro = Happy ending

Today in honor of Earth Day I want to share a true "heart" story with you that was written by my brother Gar & his wife Nicole, who are on their 5th year (yes you read that right) sailing around the world on their boat Dreamkeeper.

...Smiles, gia

P.S. The gorgeous photographs were taken by my talented sis-in-law, Nicole unless otherwise noted. 

 First a little background...Anchored at the northern Raja Ampat island of Wayag, almost everyday was about exploration. The island massif and surrounding mushroom-shaped rocks surfacing from the sea are equally dramatic and beautiful. Sandy beaches line the shores of the reef-encircled small bays and lagoons and the channels are alive with thick nutrient-rich currents that support the tremendous amount of life that exists here.

 This small area in West Papua, Indonesia, is considered to have the greatest coral reef biodiversity of its size in the world. Even though the secret is out and more and more tourists venture here, mostly on live-aboard dive boats, the reality is that Raja Ampat is still seldom visited and only a select few actually spend the money and time to journey to these islands.

There has been a rather sad downside to this gem of a region. Even though we have been at least 40-120 miles away from any significantly sized city, like Sorong, we have seen more trash in the water and on every beach we have visited than anywhere we been in the Pacific Ocean. Slicks of plastic, foam, steel balls, flip-flops, and all sizes of wood and bamboo are pushed and pulled by the strong currents. Every beach we have walked on is practically covered with rubbish and when we do put our fishing lures out in the open water trying our luck for Spanish mackerel or tuna, we mostly just catch plastic.

photo  It's been a full time job just pulling in our lures to remove the pieces of trash we hook, not to mention keeping a sharp lookout that DK doesn't ram into a huge log or scary steel whatever. Some locals say the trash is from the live-aboard dive boats and others have told us they think it is the huge fishing or container ships that are heading to Sorong but don't want to pay to have their trash brought on shore, so these boats just dump it before getting close to the harbor. This is all possible; we really don't know where it comes from or why it is so bad. The happy side to this reality is that it sounds like most of the time there hasn't been this problem with trash, but, unfortunately, while we were visiting trash everywhere was our reality.

Back to the present...Nicole and I took off in Super Dinghy for an around the islands exploration tour in an attempt to find a "shady" beach. Did I mention it is really really hot here at the equator? Zigging and zagging through the coral-studded channels of the inner lagoons we soon found ourselves on the outer reef skimming along the top of a shallow hard coral reef. "There's another turtle," I pointed out, one of probably half a dozen we had already seen that day. 

But as we got closer we could tell something wasn't right. The turtle was clearly struggling and kept surfacing in the same spot. We slowly approached and could finally see the problem.The turtle was trapped in an old fishing net with it bound tightly around 3 of the turtle's flippers and completely around it's neck. Our hearts dropped. This is what you read about; the thousands of old fishing nets and plastic 6-pack rings that float around aimlessly in the oceans entangling anything that gets in their way. But this situation was our first time actually observing this sad reality. But now wasn't the time to be sad and introspective. It was time to act. 'Bummer', Nic and I thought. No knife. No mask. And we were miles away from DreamKeeper. I looked at the turtle coming up for air and immediately attempting to dive and swim away unsuccessfully. It was scared and it was really stuck. Then I remembered we "did" have a knife with us. A fishing knife I left yesterday under the dingy seat when I was out hunting for lobster. We almost never keep a knife in the dingy, well we didn't, but we all know now that will change.

photo (not actual turtle) I jumped in with the knife and struggled to hold onto the turtle. It was a green sea turtle, fairly large and heavy, possibly 2 1/2 feet in diameter and weighing at least 300 pounds or more. It didn't want anything to do with me. It struggled and kept diving down while I attempted to find some purchase with my bare-feet on the hard coral that I could just barely touch beneath me. I finally got a good hold on the turtle's shell and managed to cut a few pieces of the net off. Then the turtle slipped away again and down it went. My fear was that I would cut only part of the net away and the turtle would take off with some of it still wrapped tightly around it's flippers or neck only to be killed by it at a later date. Nicole was circling in the dingy yelling for me to be careful and not to hurt the turtle or let it get away. She was clearly rattled and was just trying to voice her concerns, but for me, as she well knows, it was better to just tune her out and focus on the situation.

Finally I managed to pull the turtle close to me again and this time I held on tightly to it's shell while doing my best not to drag my "white-man" bare-feet all over the sharp coral my toes were clinging too. Thankfully the turtle was tiring and I was committed this time. I carefully slipped the blade between skin and net and slowly freed each limb. I was nervous about the neck, but as I worked the turtle seemed to relax a bit and eventually I cut the last of its bonds.

I released my firm grip and the turtle finned fiercely, dove deep, and was gone. It all happened in only a few minutes.  I bobbed in the water and appreciated the moment.

The trash we had been seeing finally had a more real connection. Of course the net probably wasn't just thrown overboard by a live-aboard dive boat or container ship coming into Sorong, but it was "trash". An old fishing net lost at sea wrapping up everything in its path until it becomes caught on a coral reef, beach, or boat prop. In this case it snagged a turtle. For whatever reason we came upon this situation, it was a first for us, and thankfully, had a happy ending. - Gar Duke of Dreamkeeper