MY OCEAN ELDERS - What Shapes Us, Teaches Us

In 1985, something happened that changed me forever.

Around 62 whales stranded themselves along the coast at Crowdy Bay not far from where I live, and for three long, emotional days, people gathered, locals, volunteers, scientists, and everyday people like me trying to help save them.

We worked in teams to keep them wet and protected.
We spoke to them, sang to them, cried with them.
There was this urgency in the air, like we all knew this wasn’t just an animal rescue… it was a soul initiation for all who were there.

At least 33 whales were re-floated and returned to the sea.
But the ones that didn’t make it, they didn’t just leave.
They left something with us. With me.

I was young, still trying to figure out who I was, but that moment anchored something ancient inside me. The connection I felt to those whales wasn’t simply compassion, it was something beyond that. Deep and at a soul level. As if they were reminding me of something I’d always known but had forgotten.

Since that day, the ocean in many ways has been my temple. and the whales, my elders.

That experience became a core thread in my soul's remembering and it has returned to me again and again throughout my life, each time with more depth, more insight and more truth.

This experience has taught me that our teachers aren’t always people.
Sometimes they come in the form of ocean giants, butterflies in gardens, or silent moments that crack you open and rearrange you.

So I ask:
What are your remembering moments?
What events or experiences shaped your soul and still echo through your life today?

The remembering is never random.
It’s your soul speaking and it’s time to listen.

Love

Koga