At a time when we all may feel burned out after a year of pandemic fears and losses, endless zoom meetings, and a loss of out-of-the-house entertainment, My Octopus Teacher shows how you can find renewal in the smallest of things from nature. It is amazing what you see and hear when you are still. Although I have a tendency to always want to be doing something, sometimes I just sit outside and watch and listen. there is hardly time to stop and smell the roses, much less to even notice them.
Between the pressures of work, commitments, family, friends, etc. The complexities of the natural world are often overlooked in the hustle of life. Foster intruding into the octopus’ life, but rather an actual relationship that developed between the two as the octopus is just as curious about Mr. He went down to the ocean floor holding his breath, having to return to the surface for air repeatedly while trying to befriend the octopus and also film the ongoings below. In his diving excursions every day, Craig Foster did not wear a wet suit (despite cold waters) nor any SCUBA gear. We can be more than visitors of the natural world, we can be a part of it.
Through the triumphs and the heartbreak, this movie certainly was well worth the watch, and is a good reminder of lessons we are all aware of, but sometimes forget. This invertebrate seems to worm its way into everyone’s heart and soon even I found myself rooting for this little guy. Through the ups and downs the two become inseparable. He gains the animal’s trust and slowly the octopus begins to show Foster bits and pieces of its life. He begins to return to the octopus day after day, and the two begin a journey of over 300 daily visits. While diving he notices a small octopus, and is immediately fascinated by it. He begins this path by swimming close to his home near Cape Town. This 2020 documentary follows a burnt-out filmmaker, Craig Foster, in South Africa, and his path to find renewal through snorkel diving. (I will be honest, the title did not generate great enthusiasm in me, but I reluctantly agreed since trying to get everyone in my family to agree on a movie to watch is more challenging than negotiating a multiparty Superfund allocation.) Recently, my daughter suggested we watch a film entitled My Octopus Teacher on Netflix.
Since the pandemic started, like many people, I have watched way more TV than I had previously watched.