The Ocean became a permanent fixture to my mornings. I was automatically rising from my slumber a lot earlier than was considered normal. 5am on most days, which was much earlier than I had ever done in my life. It became somewhat of a necessity to witness the suns grand entrance to the day. Alarms and snoozes became as useless as a yearlong expired plane ticket. I had the feeling that by sleeping in I was missing out on something great yet unexplainable; some extremely powerful and moving show that I had been given free tickets to that I had to be in attendance for. I walked along blissfully, across whichever stretch of the marines’ habitat I found myself wandering along that morning. I’d have my hood up as a stern combatant to the crisp morning chill. It was a chill that refreshed and cleansed the senses from whatever activity they had been put through in yesterdays episode of life. 

Sometimes I listened to music and sang along at the top of my voice, knowing there was no one but the sea as my audience. On other instances I chose to carefully listen to the scriptures and learnings that the sea voluntarily played out to the world and its inhabitants. I even cried during these mornings, not in sadness but in the worlds direct promise of hours of optimism and the multiple plenitudes that were waiting to be accessed. It became a peace inducing ritual that gave me time to speak with myself, to carefully pass thoughts through the sieve of my mind without interruption to any prolonged introspection I was having. I would stand and stare, transfixed at the rhythm of the water, losing track of the man made concepts of time, geography and money.

The water would edge closer to me in unison with the suns entrance, much  like a dog becoming slowly comfortable with the initial strangeness I posed. I felt at home and at ease amongst the water. It’s vastness and ever present danger was humbling, yet also a source of comfort. As my parents and sister were in the cocoons of their own individual dreams, I became a regular with the early morning dog walkers, sunrise surfers and composed insomniacs.