There is something awe-inspiring about the sea.
To look out over the ocean is like looking at infinity. With nothing but water all the way to the horizon, the distractions, and problems, of the world disappear.
I grew up in the corner of the UK with a coastline 5 minutes away in 3 directions. Whenever I needed to think, I took a short walk to the beach, and looked out at the waves.
The sea itself is a planet of wonder. The waves travel in from unimaginable distances, exchanging oxygen and Carbon dioxide between the water and the atmosphere on their way. Without the waves life could not exist below the surface. Each wave hits the beach like a sigh sending watery fingers creeping up the sand, a voyage of discovery, before, tried, they return to the safety of the sea. As the day goes on the water climbs higher, then withdraws again, each tide a breath of water on to the land, caused by the ballet between the earth, the sun, and the moon. Without these tides the whole ecology of the sea would be thrown into disarray. It is even possible that tides were the reason sea-dwelling creatures first climbed onto dry land. Without them mankind may never have evolved.
The beach sand, which the waves crash onto, is formed from rocks and shells older than we can conceive. Eroded by water and wind over time, they are made even finer by each wave. The water itself is part of a constant cycle of evaporation, rain, river, ocean, and is the same water in which the first living creatures swam. Every single creature in the sea is related to us, and yet there are still thousands of them yet to discover. The ocean is an unknown world, and we have only just begun to explore it.
As the sun sinks below the horizon, dust and liquid particles scatter its light, painting the canvas of the sky with colours that take the breath away.
It is tempting, when experiencing the power and wonder of this mysterious world, to believe it was created just for us. That all this beauty was put on the earth for us to enjoy.
But the real story a beach tells, of the slow path of time, the spin of the earth, the pull of the moon, the flowing of the water, the adaption of species, and how it all fits together perfectly, is far more wondrous, far more life affirming, than any myth we can create. That the ages stare back at us when we look out at the ocean reminds us how lucky we are to have made it at all. And how much there is that we still do not know.
And until our life is over we will always be able to marvel at the view.
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