The Ocean Within

Our life began in the ocean. Millions of years ago, one-celled living organisms began to spring up in the ocean, in hot places, like spots where there were undersea volcanoes.

For a very long time, all living things were water-bound, living in the sea. Then, a few hundred million years ago, which is a short time in the grand scheme of the existence of the earth, some living things emerged from the ocean and began to live on the land.

But when we left the sea, after millions of years of living there, we took the ocean with us.


The moon controls the tides. Females experience monthly cycles. Those cycles are very much tied to the moon, as are the tides in the ocean. Retaining water? What female hasn't experienced that?

When a woman becomes pregnant, she provides water for the baby which is essential for its growth. The baby lives and grows in an amniotic sac. The amniotic fluid is salty. In fact, it is almost exactly the same as the water in the ocean -- The salt content is the same. Our blood contains salt water. Our sweat is salt water. We carry the ocean inside of us in our blood and in our sweat. And when we cry, we cry the ocean, in our tears.


The pull of the ocean is so strong. Almost every human being who has seen the ocean feels inexplicably drawn to it. It's mesmerizing. It has the capability to soothe, to energize, to enrich and renew. Some have said, "It isn't summer without a trip to the beach." Is it any wonder that the ocean has that power over us? Our ancient genetic memory recalls our first home.

I think that the fascination that we have with the sea, the ocean, is its power and its mystery. There is nothing more powerful than an ocean in a storm. A huge ocean liner will become like a cork and bob on massive waves. The mystery of the ocean is its incredible depth and all of the strange creatures that live at the bottom, at those tremendous pressures, and survive. Not only survive, but thrive. We will never see them -- to bring them to the surface means that they would burst from the lack of pressure, and die.

Sitting on the beach, one can get lost in just watching the ocean, watching the waves coming in, going out. We are hypnotized by it. We know that the waves will come in, and retreat, and yet we watch...for hours on end. The beach, the shore, a constant, waits for the tides to come in and to retreat, ever changing.

The ocean inspires me. I am reminded of a poem that I wrote and had inscribed on the back of a gold identification bracelet which I gave my husband when our children were babies. He told me that the poem meant more to him than did the bracelet. My poem said, "We are the shore and you the ocean. For none is there a greater devotion."

Life is mysterious. Life is wonderful. We are all tied together in our history of life. We BBESTers are tied together by our common goals and interests, and more than a few of us share a love for the sea. Here are a few examples:



Moonlight Surf

Seascape

by Backroomtreasures

July Splendor

Nemo's Friends

by MysticSilks

Footprints by Bethpeardonprods

Toy Boat, Toy Boat by Vanfleetstreetdesign

Twisters at Sea by Onawhimsey

Ocean Dreams by DianeClancy

Seaspray by YankeeGirl

Sunset by TheCreatorsPalette

Beach by FauveStudio

Ship on the Horizon by FauveStudio

I am truly amazed how the ocean inspires each of these artists in different and beautiful ways.



Nonnie