The ocean brings me peace in a way no other place can –
In the waves of the Southern California Pacific Ocean I feel divine generosity and a safe smallness.
Salt water and the oxygenated white foam always wash away fatigue and move me towards an awareness of my body that I can’t get on land.
I am suspended.
I am unequal to the power of the sea.
And somehow, I am safe.
Body surfing and diving under the waves never bore me. No two waves ever strike me as the same.
Some defect of character makes me suspicious of ease. Nowhere do I notice this aspect of my personality more completely than when I am in the waves.
The mismatch of the ocean shifting it’s weight towards me
and my puny strength
heighten my sense of how small I am in a universe of bigger things.
But then, when I yield to the waves –
when I align myself with dignity
to their power –
I surf.
You can’t flop into the wave
You just tumble
With a humble but dignified turn in harmony with the energy in the water that started far from shore, you can be a small partner in a very powerful dance.
