Symbolism of the octopus
After Tushar was killed, his friends and family experienced several signs of Tushar’s spirit represented by an octopus. Octopuses are canny, seriously intelligent, sensitive and design-oriented creatures that continue to surprise and fascinate researchers. Drop In Coalition’s octopus is thoughtful, multi-faceted, able and always curious: inspired by Tushar’s spirit.
What is Stoke?
Sure, we can look to the dictionary for the word’s roots: it’s from the 1600’s Dutch word stoken, which means to poke a fire with a stoc – a stick, or stump. That led to tools for stirring up flames being called ‘stokers’ in English, and the act of doing so, ‘to stoke’.
That’s the origin of stoke… but the beautiful, inevitable thing about language is that it’s never static. People and cultures will always grab words, take them to new places and make them mean something more. Surfers in the 1950s in the US and Australia began using stoke to describe the exhilaration they derived from being outdoors, the happiness they felt when seeing good friends and sharing experiences, and the adrenaline-charged thrill they got from harnessing and riding one of nature’s most primal forces: the ocean.
Stoke, to all those who know the feeling, just means feeling good. Well, really, really good! Awed, inspired, energised, thrilled, ecstatic, and overjoyed. And it can be just about anything that gets you stoked: riding a great wave, mastering a new skill, reconnecting with a good friend, hearing your favorite team just won…or learning something about the world, or yourself, that you didn’t know before which just seems to fit, and feel right.
So, at Drop In Coalition, our mission is to get you stoked: through surfing, through learning, through conversation, through pushing beyond the confines of what you think you are capable of. When we tried to create one of those acronyms that self-help manuals adore, we found that stoke just meant too many things. But here are some ways to help you appreciate what experiencing the stoke of nature’s flow might involve:
- Self-esteem, Soulfulness and Smiles. Simple!
- Tenacity and Thankfulness. Discovering the Truth.
- Optimism, Openness and Originality.
- Kindred-spirits to learn and play with, Kind-heartedness, Kids – and grown-ups who are forever Kids at heart.
- Empowerment, Earth-mindedness, Empathic and heck, Energy. High energy!