Do You Long for the Secret of the Sea?

August: On Wonder and AweAugust 22I step up onto the seat now, looking into the ocean. Slate gray, some blue. I have no idea how deep it is—maybe anywhere from 30 to 50 to 80 feet out this far. And I have no idea what lurks below those waves, but my mind likes to guess at it. Fish, sharks, squid, dolphins, plenty of jellyfish, maybe whales, maybe . . . a kraken. Every true adventurer of the sea has to encounter the mythical beast at least once, right?I don’t know how long my mind wanders as I watch the rollers and stare into the depths, but there’s something mesmerizing about it. Something that calls you to it. Maybe it’s something to do with the fact that both humans and Earth are about 70% water. Maybe it’s the salt in our blood and sweat looking for their cousin in the ocean. Maybe it’s the mystery and danger. So vast and powerful, deadly and beautiful. The life it gives, and the countless lives it's taken since we first felt compelled to return to it.Someone back on the stern calls to me, asking if I want to eat. But I just take off my shirt and step off the bow. The water is a shock, cold and clean. Creatures swim below me.And so I swim, filled with wonder and awe and terror and joy. Filled with life.Reflection title: Do You Long for the Secret of the Sea?Creative inspiration:  Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, "The Secret of the Sea"Reflection question: When did I last ponder the secret of the sea? Does it inspire me? Terrify me? Both?