Day: October 22, 2016

Most of the time, stream of consciousness posts don’t have a subject as you simply write whatever comes to mind. My thoughts today are on one subject and that is the healing power of the ocean and how, this past week, that healing power helped me.

I spent some time this week at the Atlantic Ocean. My favorite ocean because it’s the rough one, the wild one, and probably because it’s the first one I ever saw. I felt an affinity with the sea from the first moment I saw it, heard it, smelled it, and this week, that bond came right back to me. Do you know how I first react when I see the ocean? I cry. Every single time.

When I went to visit the ocean this time, I went with some very specific thoughts on my mind. They are still there although the power of the ocean has helped me at least partially resolve these thoughts. I’ve been feeling anger and confusion. Hurt and grief. All that will take a long time to go away, particularly the hurt which I suspect I will carry with me the rest of my life. Research supports that the sound of crashing waves has a healing effect on our minds and bodies as it causes us to enter deep states of relaxation. For weeks now, relaxation has escaped me. While at the ocean, I kept my oceanfront balcony door open, even all night, so I could hear the crashing waves. Somehow, I knew that would help me. Even though the nights were very cool, I slept listening to the sound of a rather rough Atlantic’s waves hitting the shore. I felt better every day.

The philosopher, Plato, said, “The sea cures all ailments of man.”

As I sat on that beach in Virginia and looked at the horizon, I felt a very fundamental shift in my thinking. The anger and confusion I’ve felt for so many weeks started to drain away. I started to understand, not what had happened, but my own reaction to it. The grief I felt didn’t seem quite so deep and gut-wrenching.

As I walked barefoot on the sand and waded in the sea water, I remembered what I had read about the healing powers of the sea. Not only can the ocean produce calmness, but it can actually change our perception about our lives, restore harmony in our souls, and restore our hope and open-mindedness. It is grounding. Looking at the horizon, on the other hand, provides us with a view of our future. That it is endless and limitless. I needed to feel all of these things and the Atlantic didn’t let me down. By the time I left, I had a new perspective and new hope. Before I arrived, I didn’t feel like I would ever have any hope again.

I’ve only been back home a couple of days but the feelings I got from being by the big, beautiful Atlantic haven’t left me. Although the hurt from the events which caused me to need to seek the solace of the ocean will always be with me, now I feel I can move forward with my life in a positive manner.

Grief is a process that you move through in stages. Sometimes, it takes a long time. Other times, not so long. You are never quite the same after you grieve someone or something. Grief changes you in a fundamental way. Time does not help, unlike the old saying alleges. What does help is understanding your grief and coming to terms with it. You have to accept you’ll never be quite the same ever again and find ways to live your life to accommodate that. The deep hurt that accompanies grief is what, I think, makes us who we are as people. What we can’t do is let that hurt stop us from living our very best lives.#amwriting #amblogging #writing #grief #SoCS

This post is part of #SoCS.

Thanks, Linda!