I’m always happy when I’m surrounded by water, I
think I'm a mermaid- I was a mermaid. The ocean makes me feel really small and it puts my
whole life into perspective. It reminds me, okay I’m this very little piece of this huge earth and it
humbles you and it grounds you and it makes me feel almost like I've been baptized and I’m born again when I get out of the ocean. I’m I the same
Beyonce? Absolutely not.
-Beyonce (Year of 4 Documentary)
When I first saw this, it took all I had to not roll my
eyes; either this chic was just selling out or she was trying hard to make us
believe she was grounded. So the next time I was at the beach I gave it a try.
I forgot all my bullshit, let myself go and I can’t even begin to tell you how
amazing that felt. The chic ain’t told no lie, lol.
I come from a school where people are so uptight that you
see ladies in full blown face make-up to a 7:30 class (wonder if they slept in
it or woke up at 5 to get an early head start judging from how thick it is) and
dudes getting all dressed up to a 20 minutes lecture. I didn't even know the
extent at which I needed to unwind till I dropped in that water.
I have no idea why the gift of the ocean was granted to us
but I can tell you one thing; it is one under-appreciated present!
We live in an age where people don’t want simple things
anymore. People wanna be in control of the biggest things life has to offer;
wanna control big companies, wanna control big cars, wanna control big bank
accounts and I’m not even gonna act like I don’t want any of these because
otherwise I would have shown my ’48 Rules of Power’ book to the trash can 2
years ago. But I must tell you for a day it was nice to be controlled for a
change and there’s no other way to say this so I’m gonna give it to y’all
straight which is ironic because the next statement questions my sexuality but…
that sea made me it’s bitch! It tossed me, it pushed me and all in a good way
because throughout my flips in different directions, all I could think was ‘I
like the fact that for the first time I’m not trying so hard to be in control
of what route my life should be heading to’. And even if it was a feeling that
lasted barely a second, it was enough to remind me that every now and then,
it’s okay to give ourselves a break from trying so hard to be relevant in this
place where the most things people care about is what clothes you were and what
car you drive.
And then after been hurled around for a while, things took a
different turn. Everything got really peaceful; it might have been from all the
sun, hell it might have been from all the pot I’d been smoking but when that
serenity took over, I found the true meaning of personality. Because I looked
around at the huge collection of water that we call the ocean, all the living
beings it houses and how much they, scratch that, how much we all depended on
it and yet how it could afford to have such strong temperaments. Because yes,
like a good friend once told me, the sea is alive and you can tell its moods
from the waves. It’s probably in a good mood when the waves are soft and gentle
against your skin but when it smashes into you without warning or seems to be
roaring while at the same time sweeping you off your feet (and not in a good
way), then you know something is at bay, no pun intended. But its okay, really
it is. If such something this grand with so many responsibilities and burdens
can allow itself to feel up and down sometimes, then we really need to cut
ourselves some slack. Yes we do make mistakes and yes things don’t always go as
we plan but this is just a little reminder that we can afford to fail sometimes
and still let our waves flow into providing other people around us with
positive energy.
It was getting late and the sun was settling in the horizon;
the perfect time for me to stand and learn my last lesson for the day. Humility;
Something we could all use a bit of. You realize how magnificent the ocean is
and how small we are. It belittles you and humbles you in a way nothing else
can because you realize that when the person swimming next to you walks out to
dry themselves off, nothing changes. Everything remains the same and you get a
glimpse of how brittle life is and how our death makes no significant change in
the sphere of things. You are humbled because you’re just a little piece of
such a huge creation and it inspires you because you realize how much you have to
strive to leave an indelible mark on the world as a whole.
I’m positive you have rolled your eyes over a thousand times
already from reading this article and been thinking of how I think I’m some
deep, soul-searching prude. I totally agree with you, I aint shit and I know
you and I are both from a country where such sentimental crap is not tolerated,
especially from men. But regardless of what your sex is and where you find
yourself, everyone should have the privilege of going through what I experienced
at the beach that day at least once in their lifetime. So do me a favor please,
next time you go to the beach, do not only strip of your clothes but disrobe
yourself of all your worries, lie down quietly in the ocean and allow it to
teach some wonderful stuff. Please?
.......
K.D
