The Whale

Her song reverberates as she transitions from one shore to the next; she traverses boundaries. She is the teller of stories, the record keeper of my life, of our human history. With a gentle glide, she makes her way through the ocean, coming up every now and again for a breath of air, playing with the waves as they lap around her smooth body. Barnacles attach to sides of her body, the beauty marks and moles of an underwater goddess. She shines in a colorful sea of blues and grays that reflect the sunlight as she breaches.

She is the mother. She and her baby dance around the layers of the sea. She takes care of the stories and nurtures each passing phase of life.

These phases are a part of the longer arc of her life. She knows when to come and when to go. She moves along the shoreline, the quiet sentient being. She has the Buddha nature and the simplicity of knowing her purpose.

What records does she keep near her chest? Within her whale bones are the stories of Jonah and the stomach that he lived in. The history of our lives and our race echo through the caverns of her large body that sails with ease through the waters in every season.

The pulse of life courses in her blood and flows through her body, the connection with the water around her. She hears in the bellows of her voice that ring through the ocean, witnessing life respond back to her. It is the gentleness of her spirit that brings people to her, the inner knowing of the being that she is. People flock from around the globe for a few minutes when she raises her tail from the water, only to sink below the surface once again. Without any bother, without any mind, she continues on with her journey to the feeding grounds for her body and her soul.

The vast ocean is her home, blue and open to the impossibilities and dreamtime realities. With no thin veil to cover her eyes to what is going on in the world around her, she swims in a slow steadiness, moving through the plastic sea whirling on the surface. She knows where she is going, she trusts in the flow and instinctually moves through the depths to reach her destination. Though she is large, she is soft and capable. She knows what matters most and guides her young to intuit the meaning, too.

Finding my own voice, my story to tell, I channel the nature of the whale and her vastness through kindness and simplicity. She carries no drama. She removes the barriers that stop her from connecting with her real purpose. To live cleanly, to love openly, to be at home in her heart of just being. My story consists of great kindness. My story consists of helping others share theirs through spreading joy, helping others find their wellspring of happiness, motivated to live their dreams. My nature is about being a better friend, about acceptance, about slowing down just enough to appreciate what I have.

I’m learning to let go. Not only of things I can’t change but also material possessions that do not serve me. I am learning to be gentle with myself, gentle with my heart. Honoring the feelings as they arise and finding a way to give them space to be, they melt away with the journey through the waters—sometimes clear, sometimes murky.

I prefer to live with my values expressed each day. There’s not much that I need to be happy. A good cup of coffee, stealing some moments alone in the sunshine, music to grace my ears. I surrender my control. I wish to glide like the mother whale up and down the body of the shorelines. She moves from warm to cold. She stops where and when she needs and then continues on. She is the mother; she is the cycle of life and the keeper of our collective stories. Traveling on, listening in.

I soak in the sunshine at the surface and plunge down to the depths, greeting the darkness. There is nothing to be afraid of. There is only more life to lead, more opportunities to be present on this long expedition to somewhere. I surrender to the ocean’s flow, seeing the movement of the interconnected waves with the earth, the wind, and the moon. This is my time to just relax into these moments as they are and appreciate the way the wind laps along my sides.

I am the whale, the record keeper of my journey. I hold within me the openness and the continuation of life. What matters most is that I continue to sing my own song and to listen to the depths of my being. Without needing to fill the spaces between my ribcage, I slow down to be loving towards myself. This girth, this birth, this rejuvenation.

Each of us gets to begin again and again. We participate in this dance of life and joy, grateful for the silence. Tuned into the world around us as it is without force.

Today I choose to glide with and through life with an open heart and an open mind. I choose to sing my whale song, tapping into its wavelengths and its fluidity. I choose to play with my feet in the water and my heart expanded towards the sky. This is the life I choose for me and one I wish to share with the world around me, snapping pictures as memories within my mind to transcribe into the night sky. Feeling the stars as they flicker in bright snapshots in the darkness, I slide into bed among the sheets, waves rocking me to sleep. This calm resolve helps me to find my footing, slipping into my own skin, getting my gills wet and trusting the ocean. She is my caring mother; she is my rock and also my challenge. With a deep respect, a fondness and admiration, I sink into her, knowing that we are one. I am a part of all that’s around me, and she is the blue marble of my dreams.