Sunrise on the beach where my family is living temporarily
This is the definition of the sea I found in the dictionary:
the expanse of salt water that covers most of the earth’s surface and surrounds its landmasses.
While it is a tangible definition of the sea, it seems limiting to me. The sea is so much more than salt water that covers the earth.  When I contemplate the ocean I feel its:
Vastness
Strength
Majesty
Powerfulness and its gentleness
Demand of Respect
Mysticism
Metaphor for life
Ability to showcase the most beautiful sunrises
Ability to hold Secrets throughout time
Healing Force
Depth
Cyclical Nature
Ever Changing tides, waves and disposition
Expansion
Labels and definitions are limiting. How can we really define the ocean and what we experience of it? We can try but it pales in comparison to the deep experience of it.
When I am at the ocean I feel free. Free from worry, concern or anything other than the present moment. The ocean demands it from me and I comply without resistance. I see that the world is big, the universe is even bigger and that all of life is in flow, whether it be stormy or calm. It is the expansion of life itself.
The ocean teaches me to weather the storms in life with grace and suppleness. I learn to allow the storms without resisting them, like a tree bending with the wind.  I sit still in the calmness too and imprint the present into my being-ness. Much can be learned from both the calm and the storm, if only we listen. Nature is the great teacher if we pause and heed it’s whispers.
Easy to do at the beach? Well, yes it is. But nature is everywhere. We are part of it. So no matter where I land, I always want to remember to watch nature without labeling it and breath in all that it has to demonstrate about life.