Life is like the Ocean 

I believe in going to the ocean. I believe the ocean heals. 

Growing up, I always loved the ocean. I felt drawn to the ocean in some way. To be fair, I grew up in Greece for most of my childhood. So most of my childhood was spent on the beach. I would explore the water, swim, make sand castles, look for seashells, and whatever other beach activities I had felt like doing. So, naturally, whenever something goes wrong or I feel stressed or anxious or sad or mad or bored, I find myself at the ocean. Everything is better in the ocean. Don’t get me wrong though, I love going to the ocean regardless of how I’m feeling. There’s so many things to do. You can simply take a walk barefoot in the sand and listen to the ocean waves.. You can read a book. You can look for sea glass.  You can sit in the sand. You can even people watch. I believe everything is better near the ocean. 

When my parents first got divorced, I didn’t know how to feel. I didn’t know it was okay to feel relieved. I thought feeling like that was wrong, that I should be ashamed of myself. So, naturally, I went to the beach. I spent days and days at the beach. Sometimes I didn’t do anything but sit and listen to the waves. Other times, I would think and look for sea glass or sea shells. But regardless, I slowly felt myself feel better. And I believe the ocean helped me with that. So in a way, the ocean is my safe place. And I believe everyone should have a safe place they can go to. 

I spend most of my summer in the ocean. And I mean most. If I’m not working or playing sports, you can best believe I’ll be at some ocean. I could spend hours in the ocean. And I have. Whether I’m making my friends play mermaids with me or alone just swimming or looking underwater for seashells that haven’t washed up to shore yet or not even doing anything but simply being in the ocean, that is where I want to be. The ocean inspires me, it makes me happy. Though, I don’t think happy is the right word. It doesn’t feel a good enough word to describe how the ocean makes me feel. When I’m in the ocean, I feel like no matter what happens, I’ll get through it. That no matter what, I’ll be okay. The ocean makes me feel ecstatic, lively, optimistic, euphoric, and any other word you can think of that relates to happiness.  

So I believe in the ocean. And I think that life is like the ocean. Sometimes the ocean is very calm, just like life can be sometimes. Other times, the ocean’s waves are rocky, just like life. The ocean and life in general are very similar. You can never predict how either one is going to go but no matter what, both are very beautiful. I think life is beautiful. Just like the ocean.

“sunset over ocean, sonoma coast” by ((brian)) is licensed under CC BY 2.0.