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| Photo courtesy of Microsoft |
I
am not a fan of sunbathing on the beach or swimming in the sea, but I am an
avid supporter of preserving the ocean and the animals that live in these
waters. I admit that part of my reticence about playing in the surf stems from a
primitive fear of the creatures that live in the deep ocean water. Perhaps the
blockbuster film, Jaws, which is based
on Peter Benchley’s best-selling novel, feeds my anxiety about encountering a
great white shark. But every August since 1988, the Discovery Channel® (www.discovery.com) broadcasts
a week’s worth of documentaries about sharks. Over the years it has become a
popular, even a celebrated, event. called "Shark Week." (http://www.discovery.com/tv-shows/shark-week/) A few years ago, one of their advertising campaigns
incorporated modified lyrics from the popular holiday song, “The Most Wonderful
Time of the Year,” to promote the annual event. Indeed, it is.
Some
nail salons offer ocean- or shark-themed manicures to celebrate Shark Week.
Lady Di’s Cookies and Sweets boutiques sell a shark-week themed cupcake that features
a frothy-sea frosting design, topped off with a blue gummy “shark” candy. In
some cases, fans of this annual shark festival get together with friends and
family to watch the week-long series, a la Super Bowl celebrations.
In
addition to nail-biting videos of great white sharks launching themselves out
of the water to attack an unknowing seal and the requisite programs about shark-human
encounters, the documentaries also provide tips to survive such an encounter. In
addition, many of these shows also includes facts about other animals—fish and
mammals—that share the water and even the over-all health of the world’s oceans.
Let’s not forget the cute icon of a fin sliding across the bottom of the television
screen followed by a great white taking a big bite out of the Discovery Channel®
logo before and right after a commercial break. Those are great.
If you want to
indulge your wild side, join me in virtually swimming with the sharks this
week. Shark Week is really a lot of fun to watch and educational. With the Super Bowl still about six months away, this
is an annual event that you can really sink your teeth into.
Happy Shark
Week!
Sara R. Fogan, C.Ht. is a certified hypnotherapist based in
Southern California. She graduated with honors from the
Hypnosis Motivation Institute in 2005. For more information about
Calminsense Hypnotherapy® and to set up an appointment, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/.
© 2014
