I Fell in Love with the Ocean

All over again, like I was seeing it for the very first time.

It's like the joy of going down that slide you used to love as a kid
and realizing it still makes your stomach flip in excitement.
Or hopping on a swing for the first time in years
and finding it still allows your heart to soar.

I found myself whispering thank you's
to the fish countless times as I swam alongside them. What an honor to be given permission to wander in their home and soak up the wonder of it all.
It felt like I was invited back into the home of the oldest of friends, only to find that after all this time apart, I'm more at home in it than I've ever been

There is a tranquil, medicinal bliss we get to experience when we enter into worlds beyond our own,
and getting to spend five days this past week in the sacred company of the ocean has reawakened something in me
that I had been feeling less connected to in the busy comfort of routine and life at home

We weren't made to live so separated from the rhythms of nature
And yet we do

And the wonder of it all is that as soon as we plug ourselves back into a world ruled by those rhythms, every cell in our body comes back in sync with that original rhythm

What a joyful gift it was to marvel at the rhythms of the ocean
Changing tides and colors and contents as the day went along
Fierce and even slightly terrifying at times, while gentle and soothing at others
Underwater inhabitants changing speed and direction, synchronizing and resynchronizing their rhythms to adjust and adapt to their surroundings

There's a powerful force that tends to the aliveness of every creature that's been given the gift of life

What often happens in the midst of busy distraction, stress, or pain - universal human experiences - is that we come out of sync with the rhythms that enable us to experience the fullness of that aliveness

Stripped away from narrative, labels and criteria, we discover that everything in the ocean is absolutely beautiful.
In all its textures and shapes and colors.
In its immaculate symmetry and gloriously delicious asymmetry.
All of it is wondrous and fascinating and utterly delightful. Because we haven't contaminated it with our stories and standards
A broken coral carries as much allure and charm as a seemingly untouched one

Every aspect of the underwater experience is an invaluable part of the larger ecosystem and contributes to it in a meaningful way,
through no active effort of its own other than to just be as it is and do its thing

I wonder what our lives, individually and collectively, would be like if we too welcomed every aspect of our experience as a contributing supporter to our larger ecosystem.
If we all showed up to life in this way what would shift in the space 'between' us that connects and holds us all?
Easier said than done, of course, but still I wonder

How curious is it that this same body of water can have completely different characteristics when experienced from different vantage points
The same body of water felt different on different sides of the same island
The same body of water that had a certain quality in the Indian ocean a couple of days ago feels completely different to me here as I sit in my little island typing away on my keyboard,
and yet it's in essence the same thing
Precious in all its varying and unique expressions

I whispered a thank you to the ocean the last time I stepped away from its fierce yet lovingly caressing waves. Its generous welcome allowed me to feel more deeply human

And now I look out my window every few minutes to notice the shifting rhythms of olive tree branches as they sway to the changing wind,
reminding myself to stay in touch with this essential rhythm of life as I settle back into this human-made world

What helps you anchor back into natural rhythms whenever you've disconnected?