Ebbs and Flows and Friends

Standing in the warmth of the sun, watching the waves roll in at the beach today, I was reflecting on the waves of interaction I have with the people in my life. It's like being out there in the surf, there are those who swim with me who are always around catching the same waves and keeping in line of sight; others occasionally catch a different wave or move in a different rip and we continue to swim and surf and play in the water, just in different parts of the water. Then there are those who are mostly at other beaches, but occasionally we'll both find ourselves in common water. Sometimes you can control where you go and who you're with - sometimes the tide and waves and the lifesavers around will control where you end up, so there are people you want to spend more time with, and who are swimming your way too, but the circumstances pull you apart.

I quite like the fluidity of it all, the ebbs and flows. Sometimes though it's frustrating, like when you're really trying to catch up with someone and the tides are all wrong. Other times they swim far away trying to avoid contact because things are not going well, and they just want to escape, but the beach they swim to is often desolate, and I can't see them to give them a helping hand. I'll think that they don't want to see me, but the reality may be quite different.

Making an effort to patrol the surf for my friends has been rewarding. It can take considerable effort at times, because I too can find myself in a dodgy swell, and lose sight of people regardless of how I may try not to. Out of the blue, just like the occasional dolphin in the surf, there are swimmers out there who unexpectedly come crashing into my wave and hang about to become new friends.

It's a dynamic and chaotic world, but the soothing of the ceaseless rolling of these waves and the constancy that is there within the randomness of it all that makes life such a special thing.