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.