One Great Thing: Hawaii edition #001
Mineral sunscreen and a new format to fight overstimulation
In addition to my editorial texts, I will start sending just 1 quick recommendation. Yes, just one..
I am struggling with overstimulation and I am sure you are too. It’s the feeling you get when you stop reading most of your emails because you know they don’t matter. Still, wasting time in our lives swiping “mark as read”. At its worse, it manifests when you have so many options available, you bury yourself in research and can’t make a decision. That’s me right there.
Three weeks ago, I was on the phone with my mom, wondering how to celebrate infinite festivities coming up in February: 3 birthdays and a wedding anniversary. My head was spinning. I wanted a party with 80 guests, but no prep, no clean up, and, of course, no noise to bother my downstairs landlord. I yearned to travel in style, but not worry about packing or booking hotels. A too-long wish list, with too many unreal expectations. I was set on staying home, not because I wanted to, but because anything I had to do became an ordeal.
That’s when my mom shared one of her most meaningful pearls: “Travel, simple, but go. You have days off, don’t let them fly by. Time is always our priority”. As cliché as it is, we don’t have time to fuss. I booked my flight, transferred money from my savings account, and unsubscribed from daily newsletters that made me feel out of touch just because I still didn’t know Paris Hilton’s baby’s name. 100 startups to watch or 52 hair curling tips are just not doing it for me right now.
We have to be present and absorb our readings. For that reason, I put in my best efforts to make your time and attention worthwhile. So here’s it, just one thing, one meaningful message to close up your week:
Mineral Sunscreen
Thanks to my mom’s advice, here I am, in Hawaii, a place where time goes by differently. Driving here is a real treat, no speeding and Jurassic Park views everywhere you look. Something I was worried about, though, is that there’s a statewide coral reef protection policy that only allows mineral sunscreen, a product I have never even heard about before. Turns out, instead of using ocean-damaging chemicals to filter UV rays, it uses minerals like Zinc to create a physical barrier against skin cancer-causing radiation - making it more effective and also easier on our skin.
After my stress of packing article, I did my best to simplify my life this time and only pick out the bare essentials, although I already had alarms going off in my head. What if I don’t find mineral sunscreen? Will I be inspected at the beach? Is this a plot to sell more expensive sun protection on the Island? Will I be able to board with regular sunscreen? Turns out my overthinking was all in vain and even Trader Joe’s carried this not-so-special product.
If I hadn’t found it easily, I would have boarded with an extra worry that would have quickly washed off in the ocean. Obviously, no one’s here assessing what type of product you are wearing. It’s not going to be my good or bad example that will save the reefs. At least I had tried.
Fast forward two days, and I had an experience that changed my life, possibly forever. I swam with a turtle and it was fucking amazing. I never use the F word so this was intentional as it is a remarkable adverb of intensity. I could hear the noise of them eating from the reef with the same delight I get my peanut butter jelly sandwiches.
Suddenly, all I could think about was THANK GOD Trader Joe’s had that mineral sunscreen. I felt so accomplished for doing well, doing good, I wish I could bottle this feeling and drink it all up during hard days. All I wanted was to give this turtle all the love and care possible and for a moment, it had my uttermost attention, which, if you think about it, is the most sincere way of showing love. If I could I would take it home with me, snorkeling the full 2561 miles from Hanauma Bay to Santa Monica, renting out a water tank to transport it to Beverly Hills, and quickly seal all my windows and openings of my apartment to fill it with water and aquarium rocks to make our new baby turtle feel at home.
Sadly, the one moment I went up for air the turtle swam away. As my mom, a struggling empty-nester, would surely know, even your most prized possessions belong to the world, not just to you. And the best way of taking care of them is caring for their world, the reefs, the oceans. I rest assured that even though I wish our time together was longer, the connection was real. Eye to eye. Soul to soul.
So that was it. One quick thing that may go a long way. One quick thing to make you feel accomplished because you are. When buying sunscreen, please consider a mineral solution, without oxybenzone or octinoxate. Just check the label, the prices are somewhat similar and it is widely available. We don’t have to wait for regulation to start feeling great about our choices.
PS. Here’s me swimming with my baby turtle
moved me to tears. Thank you. I totally felt what you feel. I had this with dolphins once. Only you brought it to a whole other level... protecting them. You have developed a keen motherly instinct....