Yesterday I decided to go down to the ocean and get wet. Not ‘dabble in the shallows’ wet, but, ‘out in the surf, out where I can’t reach the bottom’ wet. I wanted to test the hypothesis that if you’re in deep water, you have no choice but to move.
The reality was that it was low tide, so to go out to a depth where I couldn’t touch the bottom between waves was ridiculously far from the shore. I settled for having moments of deep as the waves surged past me; being okay with being able to reach the bottom between the waves. I had to be okay with it, despite my best efforts, I wasn’t fast enough at either wading or swimming to get behind the bigger waves.
When I was driving to the beach, I had this nagging concern whether I might swim out too far. This beach is known for its strong currents. I didn’t want to get sucked out and not be able to get back. As I entered the water there was one surfer wading out with his board on the edge of the swimming zone between the flags. I was grateful that I wasn’t wandering out into the deep completely alone. I could have added ‘concern over the safety of swimming near a surfboard’ to my list, but the comfort in having someone close by was greater than my concern.
When the first big wave hit, I turned as I gained my footing again and saw two other strangers wading in just behind me. I felt so much better. Even when the surfer inevitably disappeared, I was not alone.
Eventually, unable to make enough progress between waves to get past this depth, one massive wave broke right over me and I had that ‘take a deep breath and tumble through the whitewater until you resurface’ moment. That fulfilled my purpose in coming down to the water and so when I found my footing again, I stood up, walked out of the water, picked up my bag and headed back to the car.
In the surf, if the water picks you up, it will move you. Sometimes you will glide along its surface in a moment of exhilaration, other times it will dump you unceremoniously and the best that you can do is prepare well and paddle until you reach the surface again. Even standing, if you stay in long enough, the water will pull you sideways along the beach.
On the way home I stopped at a spot in the harbour with the intention of getting in over my head, but I couldn’t do it. A flounder fled its resting place as I stepped in the water and between that and the murky depths, I couldn’t bring myself to go in.
Unexpectedly this morning a friend called and asked if she could come out and join me in the deep today. We went together to the harbour spot where the flounder had spooked me yesterday and bravely entered the water at full tide. Once we adjusted to the temperature, we started swimming. It was like swimming in an infinity pool. I was paddling and doing breaststroke against the current and remaining stationary. It was a great workout, but not the reason that I wanted to go deep.
We knew which direction the tide was going so we were intentional where we entered the water.
What I discovered as I went deep is that you can remain stationary if you keep working at it. In order for the deep to NOT move you, you have to move – and keep on moving! Don’t stop, as soon as you do, you’ll be moved by the water. You have no choice.
We had to stop swimming and simply float for the water to actually move us. Once surrendered to the direction of the current, it was a very gentle experience. There was no striving, we were at rest. We were also moving.
I had a couple of thoughts as I came home. It is comforting to have other people around when you are entering the deep. Yesterday it was strangers, today it was a friend, but in both instances, it was reassuring to have someone else experiencing the conditions that I was experiencing.
When you think about upskilling or adapting the way that you respond to others, do you think about changing as an isolated island or do you consider journeying with others? What might be the impact of finding others on a similar journey, whether you know them or not?
If you are embarking on some sort of a process or challenge, perhaps it is to your benefit to find someone else in a similar position. This makes me think of AA meetings or other types of accountability that you can search out, either with friends or with strangers. How could you ensure there are others around you as you begin your journey? For starters, you are reading this (whether you know me, or I am a stranger to you), you are not alone. There might be others that you come across on your journey.
The other thought that crossed my mind was that if I was intentional, I could walk around to that spot in the harbour and use the current to swim home again on the incoming tide. Alternatively, I could get in the water outside my house at high tide and swim with the current as the water recedes, back to that spot.
Am I brave enough to do that? Probably not without someone else alongside me.
Am I going to try it? I’ll let you know…
Timing is crucial. If the tide is going out and you’re swimming against it, it can be dangerous. But get in at that same spot on the incoming tide and you’ll move with ease. Depending on what you’re aiming for, the timing makes a difference. Is there enough daylight? How high will the tide get? How quickly is the water moving at that time.
These currents flow in and out, right outside my door, every day. I have thought about their impact for kayaking or paddleboarding, but never for swimming. Even if I contemplated swimming, I never imagined actually going anywhere.
What if you noticed the currents and flows that you find around you on any given day, and actually started to think about how they could move you? Do you have dreams of doing a deep dive in a certain area? A hobby perhaps? Do you allow the thought of starting in one place and ending in another, or do you plan to get out in the same place you got in?
Standing in the shallows partially looks like being able to decide how far in you’ll go, how wet you’ll get, and retaining control over your environment. Although you are on the edge of a body of water, you don’t allow its strength to inform your direction.
If you get playful and let go some control, you might get swept along a little, but once you realise how far you have moved, you can walk back to your starting position and keep yourself in place.
To be in a current yet trying to maintain position takes energy and constant effort.
To position yourself in a current to move with ease takes awareness and intention.
Become aware of your environment. Where are the safe places to get into the current? Where are the dangerous places to avoid? If you become familiar with the currents around you, you can harness them to take you further than you could have ventured on your own.
Knowing the currents and the environment that you are in, what journey could you embark upon that used to be outside of your thinking? Is it something that you’re willing to work toward? Perhaps it’s growing in the area of parenting, perhaps it’s developing better relationships at work, perhaps it’s a hobby that could actually grow into a business.
To get into the deep necessitates going through the shallows, you get to practise there and take time to adjust to the temperature and buoyancy of the water. You get to choose whether you walk into the surf or the harbour. Once you’re in, you can swim against the current for a while, but eventually, when you venture into the deep, that water is going to carry you somewhere.
You live in an environment that shapes and moves you. You have no choice but to move – either with the current or against it. Moving against the current will shape you. Moving with the current will take you somewhere. You get the choose to be intentional, notice your environment and aim toward something, or allow your circumstances to dictate your direction.
Now that you know your options, you can choose.
