Tag Archives: ocean

Wave after wave

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I grew up on a small hill about a 6-8 minute walk from the ocean. When it was quiet I could hear the ocean, but not individual waves. The sound was a constant, muted combination of a hiss and a hush, although saying it that way doesn’t make it sound as pleasant as it did. It was nice, but not nearly as nice as hearing individual waves crashing.

Sitting near the ocean now, listening to the waves, I’m reminded of a childhood memory. Between the ages of 7 and 9 my family rented a cabin or a cottage right on the beach, for a couple special occasions. One of them was a birthday party for my cousin and I, and the highlight was shooting fireworks out over the ocean, watching them both in the air and in the reflection on the water. Besides the fireworks, I only have one other memory of those cottage trips.

What I remember is fighting sleep. Unlike at home, this cottage was so close to the ocean that I could hear the waves crashing on shore. I remember the battle that went on at bedtime. After a full day of beach activities my body was ready for slumber, but I’d lay in bed trying to stay up and listen. I remember the internal negotiations going on in my head, ‘Ok, listen for 5 more waves… Ok, 5 more…’

I loved that sound so much, I wanted to stay up and listen to more. But the sound was so soothing, I was constantly fighting sleep.

I still love this sound. It soothes me; it reminds me of childhood; it recharges me. How is it that a sound can simultaneously take me back to a more innocent time and also make me feel so present and in the moment?

I’m watching surfers ride some of the waves and there’s a metaphor in this somewhere: The constant flow of waves like time… the choice of which ones to ride (which memories to hold on to)… the struggle of choosing to stay out for one more wave or to call it a day. And no matter when we are done the waves keep coming, wave after wave after wave.

Hear the ocean breathe

I could listen to the ocean all day.

Put some headphones on and enjoy the sound of a couple waves crashing

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The ocean never sleeps, it’s always in motion. A rhythmic chorus of crashes, followed by the hiss of foam on sand. A heartbeat on the never still edge of shore. Another crash, another hiss, and another. And another. Speaking to me and asking me stay and listen… And another.

Ocean waves

The ocean has always spoken to me. I love the sound of waves gently crashing on the shore. When I do my morning meditation I have the sound of the ocean in the background. Today as the meditation was ending, I thought of a shoreline and how it is a great metaphor for constant change.

A shoreline is an interesting idea. It is something that can not be measured accurately. The more you zoom in, the longer the shoreline is. From a far distance, the shore on a straight stretch of a beach is almost a straight line. Zoom in and you see an uneven wavy line. Move closer still and within that wavy line are small ebbs and flows, and closer still we see yet a rougher edge, with water moving unevenly across the sand. If you try to measure that shoreline, every zoom in gives you more zigs and zags to measure, lengthening the distance.

The shoreline constantly changes, and still remains a shoreline. We constantly change, yet we remain ourselves. We follow patterns we create over years of being who we are, yet we always have the opportunity to express ourselves differently, to zig and zag in ways we have not done so before. What is certain is that we change over time, but we tend to follow patterns in our lives just like shorelines tend to follow patterns. The difference is that we can make choices, but the ocean must follow set laws of energy, gravity, and viscosity to determine where the shoreline is. We on the other hand can determine how we will move next.

Most often we will follow the patterns we have laid out before us, but sometimes… sometimes we can break free and choose to create a whole new shoreline for ourselves. We have the power to do so, but more often than not, we listen to the waves, we don’t make them.

The ocean calls me

I was born near the ocean and when I hear waves, it soothes me. When I see the horizon over a body of water it calms me. When I walk the beach shore, I feel like I’m home.

I love to bodysurf. I feel exhilarated when a wave lifts me into its crest. I love the surge of speed as my body descends the wave. I even enjoy the feeling of the wave consuming me when it can no longer propel me forward.

The ocean calls me. It speaks to me. It tells me that when I’m near, I’m where I’m supposed to be.