The Wisdom of the Water

Oceans and beaches have always fascinated me.  For those of you who know me, you know I can’t walk away without tucking some sea glass or shells or pretty rocks in my pocket. These days, I even come prepared on my beach visits - zip lock storage bags.  But it goes so far beyond those tiny treasures - it is the meditation to beat all meditations.  Whether it was because I grew up in Wisconsin far away from the sea, or whether because I’m a water sign, the ocean holds a power that draws me in.

No surprise, then, that on my first day after being laid off, I decided to check my “exercise” box by doing a long beach hike, culminating in a peaceful sea glass hunt.  With the only other soul in shouting distance a lone fisherman, I combed the beach, discovering small, sparkling delights, listening to the waves roll, and feeling the sun and the breeze on my face.  I thought about the last 48 hours - standing on the edge of my past and what the future held, and realized in that moment that the ocean held so many of the lessons we need to remember when our world is disrupted.

The tide always comes in and goes out.

Life is a cycle, jobs are a cycle, and the ocean reminds us of this with the timeless regularity of the tides.  Twice a day, there is a high tide and a low tide. Sometimes the highs are really high, and sometimes you can barely distinguish them from the lows.  The high water mark and low water mark change every day, but without fail, twice a day the tide comes in, and twice a day it goes out.  Some days it comes with brutal rolling waves, and some days it's long, lazy sweeping surf that curls softly around your feet.

If you don’t like where the water line is, you just need to wait a little while for it to change.

Things change.

You find that perfect sunny spot on the sand and want to relax, but suddenly a sneaker wave comes up and floods your peaceful paradise. Or you find that perfect rocky spot full of sea glass treasures but the next day it's nothing but smooth sand with almost nothing to show.  The ocean reminds us all, daily, that the only constant is change. 

Just like the shoreline, each day our world is being slowly shaped and reshaped.  Those of us who adjust, adapt, and embrace that change thrive.  Those who resist the change end up disappointed, with wet beach blankets and no sea glass.

Tides are not unidirectional.

If you stand for a few minutes and watch the tides, you actually have no idea whether it is coming in or going out, as the water ebbs and flows, constantly.  I always check the tide charts before heading out, but to really know what direction the water is heading, you have to watch it over long periods of time.  If you try to measure in the space of a moment, you’ll just be confused.  Life is like that too - you might feel like you’re getting sucked out to sea, but you might really be on the ebbing side of a high tide where the water is rising. 

Keep your bearings and don’t measure life in single moments.

Sometimes, you just have to stand still and let things shift around you.

Some of the best sea glass at my favorite beach is right at the water’s edge, so you can often find me right there, doing a dance with the surf as I try to keep my toes out of the chilly Pacific waters.  Two weeks ago, while doing my dance, a strong wave came up and threw me off balance.  I scrambled to try to run out of the water, but the sand was shifting beneath my feet and the water’s force was strong. I almost lost a flip flop, and while I was trying to recover it, two more waves came and pummeled me back down, baptizing me and my smartphone with cold salt water. 

Yesterday, a wave came up suddenly, and that instinct to run kicked in, but I planted my feet and resisted the urge.  I felt my feet sink into the sand, making me steadier and more stable, and let the water and the rocks wash around my feet until the tide receded.  Sometimes the right answer is to stay calm, stand your ground and let things shift around you.

Look closely; sometimes the most valuable treasures are not the biggest treasures.

Sea glass is really just old broken bottles and glass that has been tumbled over and over by the sea until the rough edges are smoothed away and the glass has a soft, weather appearance that shines when wet.  As you can imagine, clear glass, green glass and brown glass are more abundant, and you can find pieces of all sizes.  Unusual colors, like red or blue, are not as common, and are often small and hard to spot.  For me, finding a piece of blue glass is always special, but requires an amount of diligence and patience that not everyone has.

Like in life, if you really want to find a rare and uncommon thing, sometimes you need to look a little closer and have a little more patience before you find it.

What you are looking for is always there; it just hasn’t yet been revealed.

I used to run around the beach looking for sea glass thinking the waves were bringing me treasures and didn’t want to miss any new treasures.  After doing this for a while, I realize that the ocean isn’t tossing up new pieces of smooth, weathered glass for me to add to my collection with every wave; rather, every wave is digging away layers of sand and rocks and dirt and revealing the treasures that sit just below the surface.  When I have the patience to pause, and let the forces of nature chip away at some of what is obscuring my vision, beautiful and interesting things are revealed.  When our job or our life is disrupted, we can be really tempted to run around looking for shiny things to focus on; maybe we’ll see more if we pause and let things be revealed to us.  

*****

I held my rocks in my plastic bag, closed my eyes, and gave thanks for all the treasures (including the wisdom) the ocean gave me, before I headed back home, healthy, happy and re-energized, ready for whatever is next. 

One final piece of wisdom?  Always wear sunscreen and never turn your back on a wave.