LifeWriters Talk About LifeWriting

Story Circle Network member Shawn Alladio is a featured author in a new anthology out in March '06, called Surfing's Greatest Misadventures. Shawn's fellow writers in E-Circle #9 know her as a woman who is devoted to her two daughters, her writing, and her career in water rescue. But few know that she is one of the most experienced personal watercraft (read Jet Ski) drivers in the world, able to rescue surfers who've wiped out in 50-foot waves, as she describes in her story "Heavy Water" in Surfing's Greatest Misadventures. The Journal interviewed Shawn by email to find out more about her unusual career and the new directions she's heading with her writing.

Story Circle Journal: Personal Watercraft Safety Expert is a very unusual job description. Tell us how you came to make this your career.

Shawn Alladio: I didn't plan this work at all. I was really fortunate to love the ocean and dirt bikes at the same time and to realize that a Jet Ski was like a dirt bike on water. That's how I was hooked—I just wanted to play! I got involved when the Jet Ski first came out on the market and I've grown old with the industry. It evolved as my life shifted. I bought my first stand-up Jet Ski in 1979 at the age of 18. I was primarily a racer who extended help to those in trouble on the water while I practiced.

The evolution started around 1989 when I began to teach racers and occupational users based on my personal experiences and to run a business at the same time I was taking care of my home and my daughter Kyla. The business took off around 1998. So it was a long, slow, and grueling process of trials, errors, and difficulties. I feel fortunate I'm tenacious and didn't give up, because the work itself is so valuable, and the world is now seeing those results in the news.

SCJ: Water rescue work must be quite an adrenaline rush. Tell us how it feels to be out there on a high-powered Jet Ski saving lives.

SA: I try to conserve my adrenaline and not waste any energy or emotion. I rarely drink or eat while I'm working. Work can last 10 hours a day or more—it's a long haul and I feel better fasting. I believe it's important not to pit one force against another force and to realize that, though we are powerless over a situation, our instinct, training, and knowledge can help us to make sensible decisions to reduce our risk.

All rescuers are under duress and extreme pressure, so there's a lot to manage on multiple levels. You have to keep moving, keep thinking, and look far ahead for an advantage. The most important thing is to come home safely. I always have my exit planned, and I am good at problem solving. I enjoy the challenge—it suits my nature and competitive spirit.

A Jet Ski (Personal Watercraft) is a type of boat that can get into close, confined quarters. With good training it can be used in dynamic water, such as swiftwater or the surf, and no other boat can do that effectively. I find it to be the most courageous little boat that loves to work under extreme conditions.

Safety is all about the operator's choices, however, so I just choose very well! It all comes down to understanding myself well enough and the weather and water, the status of the victim(s) and all the other factors that come up. I try to create as low an impact as possible. It is really all about self discipline and the thinking process translated into action.

SCJ: Your work has taken you all over the world. Tell us about some of the places that made the most impact on you?

SA: South Africa feels like my own homeland. After spending five winters there training and working at Dungeons, it has worked deep into my psyche and I long for the wind and cold water of the Cape. My closest friends are from that country, a raw frontier of true commitment amongst obvious difficulties.

Australia is another country where I have many friends and colleagues. The year I was asked to go there and train their lifesaving educators was a pinnacle for my career. The lifeguards in Australia are world renowned for their prowess and skills in the surf.

I have lived in every place I have traveled. I spent time and adjusted to the weather, land, and people, so bits and pieces of me are strung across the globe. I wasn't just visiting—I was experiencing and feeling the compression from the atmosphere, the wind movement, the pulse of the ocean, or the rage of a river.

Working in New Orleans is still a hard experience for me to look back on—I call it our National Disgrace! And going back to Ground Zero a year after 9/11 was very heavy.

SCJ: You've worked with some fascinating people in diverse situations, from rescuing surfers to training emergency responders. Who are the people you've most appreciated working with?

SA: Training our US Navy and US Marine Corps personnel has been an honor. I felt a lot of personal and patriotic pride in working with the special waterborne divisions, being the sole female instructor and basically creating an industry that did not exist before. This good work has revolutionized boating and lifesaving on our planet.

I'm fascinated by technology and what will come next that we can use as a lifesaving tool. I hope I live long enough to see the new transitions and I'm stoked that I was able to be the conduit for Personal Watercraft rescue to get started. My instructors and sponsors deserve a lot of credit. Our students are the fountain of our hearts—they take our experiences and apply them in the real world for the benefit of others.

SCJ: You rescue a lot of people but you also face tragedy on a regular basis. How have you learned to cope with the times when there was someone you weren't able to save?

SA: I remind my soul that I may be the last person to be within their view or their hearing or to touch their skin. I'm loving and careful about what I say and try to be a witness for them. It's a transition when a person surrenders their life to the great mystery of death, one I try to be graceful with, but it is painful. This is a good reminder for all of us not to fear death, but to embrace it the same way we do with a birth—both should be celebrated and both should be prepared for and not grieved because of regrets. All of us need to discover ourselves continually to really live every moment and find purpose. Don't waste your time—channel your life force into something you are proud of. We live to die, so to speak, and we should do both living and dying well, regardless of how our ending is.

SCJ: You've been the subject of many magazine articles and now you are making a name for yourself telling your own story in Surfing's Greatest Misadventures. What prompted you to start writing your stories?

SA: I began writing for personal therapy to process my feelings and moods, professionally and personally. I've encountered discrimination and had to deal with fear so it was a simple way to face truths and move forward rather than crumble into confusion and pain. With the travel, I don't have the luxury of being in one place very long, so I had to develop a way to cope.

I joined the Story Circle Network because of my friend Nancy Rigg and her support. I guess I would say Nancy is the muse for these words making it into print, because I never wanted to write for people to read.

Surfing's Greatest Misadventures is really similar to how it is when I'm at a surf location waiting for waves. All the surfers "talk story" and share one after another of these insanely wild stories. So the book is just like being with these guys, except they're not animated and doing their crazy little antics, thank God!

SCJ: Do you have any particular goals or aspirations for your writing?

SA: I have writing aspirations now, which are newly formed, mainly thanks to Nancy and E-Circle #9 members who are very supportive of each other's work. I hope my writing will create a real-world story for someone else to take the next step into the unknown and face a fear that blocks their creative spirit, to be set free to go beyond mediocrity, to do one thing different than everyone else.

I've had a lot of people prompt me to write an autobiography, which I wasn't sure I wanted to do. The editor of Surfing's Greatest Misadventures, Paul Diamond, is coaching me to write a twelve chapter autobiography. Just today he was actually coming up with his focus on the magic behind the pages. We're doing the book tour right now and he's staying with me, spending time and getting to know the overall way my life works out, which is quite unpredictable. I'm sure he can't wait to go home. Hah!

I struggle horribly with my writing, but I am getting clear of that blocking attitude as time passes and I practice writing with more discipline and purpose. I think an autobiography is going to happen, probably within the next year, and I dread that process. I am comfortable writing about educating rescue personnel in the waters of our world, but when it comes to my stories, they seem so common to my world. I haven't quite realized yet that they may be interesting to others. I would like to be a courageous writer. It seems much easier to face a 50-foot wave than write down all these past days.

SCJ: How has writing about your work changed the way you see the events that you've been part of?

SA: I try to distance myself from the overall impact and I discipline myself to remain humble. Humor sure helps too. When I work, I have a different side to my personality that complements the seriousness and strength that is necessary. I have been described as a chameleon and that is fine—I move with my mood and the tempo of the surroundings.

When people ask me what kind of work I do, I usually say I'm just a janitor. It's a metaphor for rescue work. They quickly leave me alone and I don't feel like a freak if they comment, "Oh, you're that crazy woman!"

In my rescue work, I go in when nobody is looking, do the work, clean everything up, put it all back together and, get the Hell out of there, and nobody knows the difference. The media has latched onto my "story," but it's the same repetitive theme and it bores me, because I'm excited about talking about education, enforcement, and safety. But that isn't sexy enough for print, and media outlets have their own agendas.

I've been beat down so many times in the past but I really don't care what anyone thinks of me anymore—I just do what I feel intuitively is best for my life, to serve others through deeds and action, and to be a better woman each day, a woman and mother that my children can look up to. I want them to feel safe around me and in our world.

SCJ: Is there anything else you'd like to tell our readers?

SA: My personal struggles have also complemented my occupational struggles. I was a woman who was physically abused, beaten by the man I loved. I really am thankful to be alive and able to move beyond his projection of anger and the confusion of what is love and what is this abuse? It's nice not to be frustrated by the disowned aspects of others.

I suffered additional abuse from male colleagues. I realize that life has these crazy moments, but those moments should move us to a higher level of conscious life and a hunger for truth, not keep us locked in a prison. I am in love with myself and my way of being. I've worked hard and writing gave me the voice to keep in touch with my spirit, which enables my soul to thrive. Peace, love, joy, and happiness is my current theme and spending time with good people who get it. I don't have patience for time thieves or idiots—they are not welcome in my life.

I have two incredible children, Kyla Ann, 24 years old, and Shaniah Oceania, 2 years old. I'll be 45 in June. I'm single and based out of Santa Barbara, California.

My work is entirely possible only from support from Kawasaki Motors Corporation, the American Watercraft Association, Gath and Lifesled and God's grace.

—Email interview conducted and edited by Jane Ross

Visit Shawn's personal and business websites at: www.ShawnAlladio.com and www.K38Maritime.com.

Last updated: 08/25/06