So you can't live in Southern California without adopting some form of expression like "ride the wave." You know...don't resist life. Go with the flow.
But I got smacked upside my aura yesterday when I heard a quote from Leonard Cohen's poem "Good Advice for Someone Like Me."
"If you don't become the ocean, you will get seasick every day."
- Leonard Cohen
Here's where it's hitting me.
Riding the wave = separate, apart from the great force of nature. Prone to fear, anxiety, isolation. Afraid of messing up. Doing your best but kinda afraid that you're actually completely inept. Deep seated fear that some day "they" are going to judge you, get you.
Being the ocean = empowerment, freedom, on the inside of life. You ARE the great force of nature. You are the "they" and you know that there is no "they." Whether you choose to dust your blinds or not, it doesn't matter. You're an ocean.
I'm feeling this shift the most in the areas of my work. When I'm riding the wave, I'm holding on tight to the great force of the momentum, the projects, the goals, the to-dos. Riding the wave keeps me separated from the whole.
When I become the ocean, I am not afraid. I am not stressed. I am a driving force that knows where to put my energy. That moves big when it's time to move big and lies still when it's time for that too. That doesn't get gripped for fear of screwing up. That bravely pushes forth onto the shore because sometimes the ocean is on the frontlines. That knows that the small stuff is just that. Little floaty bits in the vast expanse that surrounds us.
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