Chicken Soup for the Ocean Lover's Soul by Jack Canfield

Author:Jack Canfield [Canfield, Jack]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9780757394003
Publisher: Health Communications, Inc.
Published: 2010-08-09T07:00:00+00:00

Guiding Light

Original painting by Wyland © 2003.

Sea of Curiosity

In my dreams, a monstrous wall of green water races my way, hissing, roaring, towering, inescapable, sweeping me into a cascading aquatic mayhem. I am lifted, tumbled, churned, pushed and fall, gasping, clawing for air. My toes touch sand; a sweet breeze soothes my lungs. I stand, choking, face the next advancing wall and leap into it, exhilarated!

In reality, when I was three the ocean along the New Jersey shore first got my attention much as it happened in the dream: A great wave knocked me off my feet, I fell in love, and ever after have been irresistibly drawn, first, to the cool, green Atlantic Ocean; later, to the Gulf of Mexico, warm and blue, serving as my backyard and playground through years of discovery; and thereafter to other oceans, to reefs, raging surf, calm embayments, steep drop-offs and the farthest reaches of the deep sea beyond. The “urge to submerge” came on early and continues, seasoned and made more alluring by thousands of underwater hours, each one heightening the excitement of the last as one discovery leads to another, each new scrap of information triggering awareness of dozens of new unknowns.

The lure of the sea has enticed explorers to probe the mysteries of that vast, sparkling wilderness, probably for as long as there have been human beings. Our origins are there, reflected in the briny solution coursing through our veins and in the underlying chemistry that links us to all other life. We are probably the most versatile of creatures, anatomically gifted with an ability to climb mountains, swing among treetops, leap into the air, race across plains and briefly enter underwater realms. While we are not naturally equipped with wings to remain aloft or gills to stay submerged for long, we are endowed with ingenuity, and thus have been able to respond to another human gift, especially evident in children and those who happily never quite grow up: an irrepressible curiosity.

Dr. Sylvia A. Earle

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