By the waves

Two weeks ago I had the pleasure of surfing near the small town of Peniche, Portugal. As I sat by the Atlantic observing the movement of the waves, a few reflections came to mind that I thought to share here.

The ocean is a vast, what seems like a never ending spectacle of nature. It spans out into what feels like the edge of the world. I find it difficult to even come to terms with the sheer amount of water and the complexities of the lifeforms found within it. It’s too much to wrap my wee brain around.

But by not understanding the metrics on how it comes to be classified as an ocean doesn’t mean one isn’t able to feel its presence. By placing my body in the mitts of the never ending flux of waves, I could feel its power and energy. It pull you into it’s grasp then flushes you out. It engulfs you in its motion. You’re no longer in control. The ocean has the power to dictate your every move.

Being one with such a force of nature puts it into perspective. We tend to think as being in the driving seat of our lives. That the only forces that are making our decisions are the logical, rational ones our brain manifests. We become blind to the currents of nature in our everyday lives. Until we place ourselves in the depts of her palms do we feel the insignificance of our individual self. We are helpless in her, so what should we do?

We are presented with two options: either we fight against it or embrace it.

I find it hard to imagine gearing up ready to surf and being like “Let’s kick the shite out of these waves!”. How can you? They are relentless. One after another, after another and so on ad infinitum. They’ve been doing this same movement for probably millions of years. How can a mere mortal think they stand a chance?

But even if we deviated a bit from the waves, how can anyone say they can “conquer” nature? The very thing itself is the life force of everything we see around us, even ourselves! So how can we think to overcome it? And what’s on the other side if we manage to do so?

No idea, but maybe some people think otherwise.

So that leaves us with embracing. But how to we embrace the waves? From my reasonably short stint of trying to stand up on a two meter plastic board, what I observed was that the waves are not there to be overcome, but they’re there to be caught. The ocean sets the rhythm and we must tune ourselves into it.

Think about what is in your control, so your position on the board, adjusting the acceleration and direction, but in the end the wave is the one that decides where you’ll end up.

The same goes for life, but instead of the waves there’re invisible forces of nature pushing us in the direction that will eventually plunge us into the darkness. All we can is try to maintain our balance, preferably not fall off too early, and embrace the direction life takes us–always with a smile on our face.

So if I were to sum this brief reflection by the waves of Peniche it would be to not fight against the greater natural forces that are present throughout the duration our lives, but to accept them as the orchestra that guides us through the chaos and beauty of it all.

Le grà.