“For
whatever we lose like a you or a me, its always ourselves we find in
the sea' - EE Cummings
How can one ever know the
deep significance that a single quote can carry until they have truly
discovered the meaning hidden within that quote?
It wasn't until I
happened upon this quote 2 years ago that I was provoked to think
about the significance that the sea has had on my life.
Growing up in Tasmania,
an island off the bottom of Australia, I have always been surrounded
by the sea. The ocean has been a part of my life since I was born.
Mother Nature is at her finest in Tasmania. The seasons are distinct,
summer is short followed by the orange and red hues of autumn and
winter hits you quickly and without much warning. The winds are
fierce and icy. The ocean turns ferocious and for months on end all
you can do is dream of the day that summer will arrive again. For the
lucky ones, an escape up north or overseas becomes an annual ritual
to escape the grey skies and incessant rain.
Surfing in Tasmania
exposes you more than anything else directly to these fierce
elements. It's not unusual to have to hike to the beach with all your
gear psyching yourself up to hit the waves because you know that the
freezing water temperature will chill you to the bones if you are
unprepared both physically and emotionally. When your body hits the
water as you enter the ocean you have to paddle fast to keep your
limbs moving. In some lonelier places you are often the only person
out there in the ocean, surfing with the mountains towering above you
and your company a lonely gull, as he circles above in the sky
looking for his next feed.
This lifestyle is
definitely not for those who love long warm summers and tropical
waters, who dream of escaping every winter to spend months on end
surfing clear water and soaking up the winter sun on a grassy
headland while eating fresh fruit. For so long I dreamed of warm
winter days where the swell was consistent and I could longboard to
my hearts content. I dreamt of integrating myself into local surfing
communities, meeting people who had lived through the early days of
surfing and I dreamt of all the stories they would share with me. I
dreamt of paddling into the ocean, smiling and laughing in just a
bikini or short wetsuit and catching waves off a point, wave after
wave after wave after wave.
And then one day I woke
up and I just stopped dreaming. And instead of dreaming I just did
it! I designed my life so that I could spend my summers at home in
Tasmania and escape north to the NSW coast for the rest of the year.
I designed my life so I could move from town to town regularly, a
life where my itchy feet would always be satisfied. A life where I
could choose to be somewhere warm, where there was always a wave and
most winter days were sunny and I could lay on that grassy headland
after a surf feeling happy and smiling up at the sky.
It has now been almost 3
years since I designed this life. I am the happiest, the healthiest,
the most content I have been in my whole life. I wake up every single
morning excited for what the day will bring, and at the end of every
day I feel gratitude for being blessed with the moments that make up
this beautiful life.
The sea life truly has me
enveloped in her heart. The sea is my heart. And I now fully
understand from deep within my soul that 'Whatever we lose, like a
you or a me, It's always ourselves we find in the sea'.
